,this e,book was produced by ,david     
,widger                                 
,,the ,,conflict ,,with ,,slavery       
,,politics ,,and ,,reform               
,,the ,,inner ,,life                    
,,criticism                             
,,by                             ,,john 
,,greenleaf ,,whittier                  
,,contents3    ,,the ,,conflict ,,with  
,,slavery       ,,justice ,,and         
,,expediency       ,,the                
,,abolitionists2 ,,their ,,sentiments   
,,and ,,objects       ,,letter ,,to     
,,samuel ,e4 ,,sewall       ,,john      
,,quincy ,,adams       ,,the ,,bible    
,,and ,,slavery       ,,what ,,is       
,,slavery       ,,democrat ,,and        
,,slavery       ,,the ,,two             
,,processions       ,a ,,chapter ,,of   
,,history       ,,thomas ,,carlyle ,,on 
,,the ,,slave ,,question                
,,formation ,,of ,,the ,,american       
,,anti-,,slavery ,,society       ,,the  
,,lesson ,,and ,,our ,,duty             
,,charles ,,sumner ,,and ,,the ,,state  

,,department       ,,the ,,presidential 
,,election ,,of #ahgb       ,,the       
,,censure ,,of ,,sumner       ,,the     
,,anti-,,slavery ,,convention ,,of #ahcc
       ,,kansas       ,,william ,,lloyd 
,,garrison       ,,anti-,,slavery       
,,anniversary       ,,response ,,to     
,,the ,,celebration ,,of ,,my           
,,eightieth ,,birthday    ,,reform ,,and
 ,,politics4       ,,utopian ,,schemes  
,,and ,,political ,,theorists           
,,peculiar ,,institutions ,,of          
,,massachusetts       ,,lord ,,ashley   
,,and ,,the ,,thieves       ,,woman     
,,suffrage       ,,italian ,,unity      
,,indian ,,civilization       ,,reading 
,,for ,,the ,,blind       ,,the ,,indian
 ,,question       ,,the ,,republican    
,,party       ,,our ,,dumb ,,relations  
,,international ,,arbitration           
,,suffrage ,,for ,,women    ,,the       
,,inner ,,life4       ,,the ,,agency    
,,of ,,evil       ,,hamlet ,,among ,,the
 ,,graves       ,,swedenborg       ,,the
 ,,better ,,land       ,,dora           

,,greenwell       ,,the ,,society ,,of  
,,friends       ,,john ,,woolman',s     
,,journal       ,,the ,,old ,,way       
,,haverford ,,college    ,,criticism4   
,,evangeline       ,,mirth ,,and        
,,medicine       ,,fame ,,and ,,glory   
,,fanaticism       ,,the ,,poetry ,,of  
,,the ,,north                           
,,the ,,conflict ,,with ,,slavery       
,,justice ,,and ,,expediency    ,,or1   
,,slavery ,,considered ,,with ,a ,,view 
,,to ,,its ,,rightful ,,and ,,effectual 
,,remedy1  ,,abolition4                 
#ahcc4         ,there is a law above all
 the enactments of human codes1 the same
       throughout the world1 the same in
 all time1--such as it was before       
the daring genius of ,columbus pierced  
the night of ages1 and opened       to  
one world the sources of wealth and     
power and knowledge1 to       another   
all unutterable woes2 such as it is at  
this day3 it is the       law written by
 the finger of ,god upon the heart of   
man2 and by that       law1 unchangeable

 and eternal while men despise fraud1   
and loathe       rapine1 and abhor      
blood1 they shall reject with           
indignation the wild       and guilty   
fantasy that man can hold property in   
man4       --,,lord ,,brougham4    ,,it 
may be inquired of me why ,i seek to    
agitate the subject of ,slavery in  ,new
 ,england1 where we all acknowledge it  
to be an evil4  ,because such an        
acknowledgment is not enough on our     
part4  ,it is doing no more than the    
slave-master and the slave-trader4  ,we 
have found1 says ,james ,monroe1  in his
 speech on the subject before the       
,virginia ,convention1 that this  evil  
has preyed upon the very vitals of the  
,union2 and has been  prejudicial to all
 the states in which it has existed4    
,all the states  in their several       
,constitutions and declarations of      
rights have made a  similar statement4  
,and what has been the consequence of   
this general  belief in the evil of     
human servitude8  ,has it sapped the    

foundations of  the infamous system8    
,no4  ,has it decreased the number of   
its victims8  ,quite the contrary4      
,unaccompanied by philanthropic action1 
it has been  in a moral point of view   
worthless1 a thing without vitality1    
sightless1  soulless1 dead4    ,but it  
may be said that the miserable victims  
of the system have our  sympathies4     
,sympathy the sympathy of the ,priest   
and the ,levite1 looking  on1 and       
acknowledging1 but holding itself aloof 
from mortal suffering4  ,can such hollow
 sympathy reach the broken of heart1 and
 does the blessing  of those who are    
ready to perish answer it8  ,does it    
hold back the lash  from the slave1 or  
sweeten his bitter bread8  ,one's heart 
and soul are  becoming weary of this    
sympathy1 this heartless mockery of     
feeling2 sick  of the common cant of    
hypocrisy1 wreathing the artificial     
flowers of  sentiment over unutterable  
pollution and unimaginable wrong4  ,it  
is  white-washing the sepulchre to make 

us forget its horrible deposit4  ,it  is
 scattering flowers around the          
charnel-house and over the yet festering
  grave to turn away our thoughts from  
the dead men's bones and all            
uncleanness1 the pollution and          
loathsomeness below4    ,no6 let the    
truth on this subject1 undisguised1     
naked1 terrible as it is1  stand out    
before us4  ,let us no longer seek to   
cover it2 let us no longer  strive to   
forget it2 let us no more dare to       
palliate it4  ,it is better to  meet it 
here with repentance than at the bar of 
,god4  ,the cry of the  oppressed1 of   
the millions who have perished among us 
as the brute  perisheth1 shut out from  
the glad tidings of salvation1 has gone 
there  before us1 to ,him who as a      
father pitieth all ,his children4       
,their blood  is upon us as a nation2   
woe unto us1 if we repent not1 as a     
nation1 in  dust and ashes4  ,woe unto  
us if we say in our hearts1 ,the ,lord  
shall not  see1 neither shall the ,god  

of ,jacob regard it4  ,he that planted  
the ear1  shall ,he not hear8  ,he who  
formed the eye1 shall ,he not see8      
,but it may be urged that ,new ,england 
has no participation in slavery1 and  is
 not responsible for its wickedness4    
,why are we thus willing to believe a   
lie8  ,new ,england not responsible6    
,bound by the ,united ,states           
constitution to protect the slave-holder
 in  his sins1 and yet not responsible6 
,joining hands with crime1 covenanting  
with oppression1 leaguing with          
pollution1 and yet not responsible6     
,palliating the evil1 hiding the evil1  
voting for the evil1 do we not          
participate in it8         ,messrs4     
,harvey of ,new ,hampshire1 ,mallary of 
,vermont1 and ,ripley of       ,maine1  
voted in the ,congress of #ahbi against 
the consideration of a       ,resolution
 for inquiring into the expediency of   
abolishing slavery       in the         
,district of ,columbia4    ,members of  
one confederacy1 children of one family1

 the curse and the  shame1 the sin      
against our brother1 and the sin against
 our ,god1 all the  iniquity of slavery 
which is revealed to man1 and all which 
crieth in the  ear1 or is manifested to 
the eye of ,jehovah1 will assuredly be  
visited  upon all our people4  ,why1    
then1 should we stretch out our hands   
towards  our ,southern brethren1 and    
like the ,pharisee thank ,god we are not
 like  them8  ,for so long as we        
practically recognize the infernal      
principle  that man can hold property in
 man1 ,god will not hold us guiltless4  
,so  long as we take counsel of the     
world's policy instead of the justice of
  heaven1 so long as we follow a        
mistaken political expediency in        
opposition to the express commands of   
,god1 so long will the wrongs of the    
slaves rise like a cloud of witnesses   
against us at the inevitable bar4       
,slavery is protected by the            
constitutional compact1 by the standing 
army1  by the militia of the free       

states4         ,j4 ,q4 ,adams is the   
only member of ,congress who has        
ventured to       speak plainly of this 
protection4  ,see also his very able    
,report       from the minority of the  
,committee on ,manufactures4  ,in his   
speech       during the last session1   
upon the bill of the ,committee of ,ways
 and       ,means1 after discussing the 
constitutional protection of slavery1 he
       says3 ,but that same interest is 
further protected by the ,laws of       
the ,united ,states4  ,it was protected 
by the existence of a standing          
army4  ,if the ,states of this ,union   
were all free republican ,states1       
and none of them possessed any of the   
machinery of which he had       spoken1 
and if another portion of the ,union    
were not exposed to       another       
danger1 from their vicinity to the      
tribes of ,indian savages1       he     
believed it would be difficult to prove 
to the ,house any such       thing as   
the necessity of a standing army4  ,what

 in fact was the       occupation of the
 army8  ,it had been protecting this    
very same       interest4  ,it had been 
doing so ever since the army existed4   
,of       what use to the district of   
,plymouth 7which he there represented7  
was the standing army of the ,united    
,states8  ,of not one dollar's          
use1 and never had been4    ,let us not 
forget that should the slaves1 goaded by
 wrongs unendurable1  rise in           
desperation1 and pour the torrent of    
their brutal revenge over  the beautiful
 ,carolinas1 or the consecrated soil of 
,virginia1 ,new ,england  would be      
called upon to arrest the progress of   
rebellion1--to tread out  with the armed
 heel of her soldiery that spirit of    
freedom1 which knows  no distinction of 
cast or color2 which has been kindled in
 the heart of  the black as well as in  
that of the white4    ,and what is this 
system which we are thus protecting and 
upholding8  ,a  system which holds two  
millions of ,god's creatures in bondage1

 which  leaves one million females      
without any protection save their own   
feeble  strength1 and which makes even  
the exercise of that strength in        
resistance to outrage punishable with   
death6 which considers rational1        
immortal beings as articles of traffic1 
vendible commodities1  merchantable     
property1--which recognizes no social   
obligations1 no  natural                
relations1--which tears without scruple 
the infant from the  mother1 the wife   
from the husband1 the parent from the   
child4  ,in the  strong but just        
language of another3 ,it is the full    
measure of pure1  unmixed1              
unsophisticated wickedness2 and scorning
 all competition or  comparison1 it     
stands without a rival in the secure1   
undisputed  possession of its detestable
 preeminence4    ,so fearful an evil    
should have its remedies4  ,the         
following are among the  many which have
 been from time to time proposed3--     
#a4  ,placing the slaves in the         

condition of the serfs of ,poland and   
,russia1 fixed to the soil1 and without 
the right on the part of the  master to 
sell or remove them4  ,this was intended
 as a preliminary to  complete          
emancipation at some remote period1 but 
it is impossible to  perceive either its
 justice or expediency4    #b4  ,gradual
 abolition1 an indefinite term1 but     
which is understood to  imply the       
draining away drop by drop1 of the great
 ocean of wrong2  plucking off at long  
intervals some1 straggling branches of  
the moral  ,upas2 holding out to unborn 
generations the shadow of a hope which  
the  present may never feel gradually   
ceasing to do evil2 gradually refraining
  from robbery1 lust1 and murder3 in    
brief1 obeying a short-sighted and      
criminal policy rather than the commands
 of ,god4    #c4  ,abstinence on the    
part of the people of the free states   
from the use  of the known products of  
slave labor1 in order to render that    
labor  profitless4  ,beyond a doubt the 

example of conscientious individuals may
  have a salutary effect upon the minds 
of some of the slave-holders2 ,i but  so
 long as our confederacy exists1 a      
commercial intercourse with slave       
states and a consumption of their       
products cannot be avoided4         ,the
 following is a recorded statement of   
the venerated ,sir ,william             
,jones3 ,let sugar be as cheap as it    
may1 it is better to eat none1          
better to eat aloes and colloquintida1  
than violate a primary law              
impressed on every heart not imbruted   
with avarice2 than rob one       human  
creature of those eternal rights of     
which no law on earth can       justly  
deprive him4    #d4  ,colonization4     
,the exclusive object of the ,american  
,colonization ,society1 according to    
the second article of its constitution1 
is to colonize the free people of  color
 residing among us1 in ,africa or such  
other place as ,congress may  direct4   
,steadily adhering to this object it has

 nothing to do with  slavery2 and ,i    
allude to it as a remedy only because   
some of its friends  have in view an    
eventual abolition or an amelioration of
 the evil4    ,let facts speak4  ,the   
,colonization ,society was organized in 
#ahag4  ,it has  two hundred and        
eighteen auxiliary societies4  ,the     
legislatures of  fourteen states have   
recommended it4  ,contributions have    
poured into its  treasury from every    
quarter of the ,united ,states4         
,addresses in its favor  have been heard
 from all our pulpits4  ,it has been in 
operation sixteen  years4  ,during this 
period nearly one million human beings  
have died in  slavery3 and the number of
 slaves has increased more than half a  
million1  or in round numbers1 #eej1jjj 
,the ,colonization ,society has been    
busily engaged all this while in        
conveying the slaves to ,africa2 in     
other words1 abolishing slavery4  ,in   
this very charitable occupation it has  
carried away of manumitted slaves  #fac 

,balance against the society 4  4  4  4 
#edi1chg6    ,but enough of its         
abolition tendency4  ,what has it done  
for amelioration8  ,witness the newly   
enacted laws of some of the slave       
states1 laws bloody  as the code of     
,draco1 violating the laws of ,cod and  
the unalienable  rights of ,his         
children8--,it will be seen that the    
society approves of  these laws4--,but  
why talk of amelioration8  ,amelioration
 of what8 of  sin1 of crime unutterable1
 of a system of wrong and outrage       
horrible in  the eye of ,god ,why seek  
to mark the line of a selfish policy1 a 
carnal  expediency between the          
criminality of hell and that repentance 
and its  fruits enjoined of heaven8     
,for the principles and views of the    
society we must look to its own         
statements and admissions2 to its       
,annual ,reports2 to those of its       
auxiliaries2 to the speeches and        
writings of its advocates2 and to its   
organ1 the ,african ,repository4    #a4 

,it excuses slavery and apologizes for  
slaveholders4    ,proof4  ,slavery is an
 evil entailed upon the present         
generation of  slave-holders1 which they
 must suffer1 whether they will or not6 
,the  existence of slavery among us1    
though not at all to be objected to our 
,southern brethren as a fault1 etc8  ,it
 7the society7 condemns no man  because 
he is a slave-holder4 ,recognizing the  
constitutional and  legitimate existence
 of slavery1 it seeks not to interfere1 
either  directly or indirectly1 with the
 rights it creates4  ,acknowledging the 
necessity by which its present          
continuance and the rigorous provisions 
for its maintenance are justified1 etc4 
,they 7the ,abolitionists7  confound the
 misfortunes of one generation with the 
crimes of another1  and would sacrifice 
both individual and public good to an   
unsubstantial  theory of the rights of  
man4    #b4  ,it pledges itself not to  
oppose the system of slavery4    ,proof4
  ,our society and the friends of       

colonization wish to be  distinctly     
understood upon this point4  ,from the  
beginning they have  disavowed1 and they
 do yet disavow1 that their object is   
the emancipation  of slaves4--,speech of
 ,james ,s4 ,green1 ,esq41 ,first       
,annual ,report of the  ,new ,jersey    
,colonization ,society4    ,this        
institution proposes to do good by a    
single specific course of  measures4    
,its direct and specific purpose is not 
the abolition of  slavery1 or the relief
 of pauperism1 or the extension of      
commerce and  civilization1 or the      
enlargement of science1 or the          
conversion of the  heathen4  ,the single
 object which its constitution          
prescribes1 and to  which all its       
efforts are necessarily directed1 is    
,african colonization  from ,america4   
,it proposes only to afford facilities  
for the voluntary  emigration of free   
people of color from this country to the
 country of  their fathers4    ,it is no
 abolition society2 it addresses as yet 

arguments to no master1  and disavows   
with horror the idea of offering        
temptations to any slave4  ,it denies   
the design of attempting emancipation1  
either partial or  general4    ,the     
,colonization ,society1 as such1 have   
renounced wholly the name and  the      
characteristics of abolitionists4  ,on  
this point they have been  unjustly and 
injuriously slandered4  ,into their     
accounts the subject of  emancipation   
does not enter at all4    ,from its     
origin1 and throughout the whole period 
of its existence1 it  has constantly    
disclaimed all intention of interfering1
 in the smallest  degree1 with the      
rights of property1 or the object of    
emancipation1  gradual or immediate4  4 
4  4  ,the society presents to the      
,american  public no project of         
emancipation4-- ,mr4 ,clay's ,speech1   
,idem1 vol4  vi4  pp4  #ac1 #ag4    ,the
 emancipation of slaves or the          
amelioration of their condition1 with   
the moral1 intellectual1 and political  

improvement of people of color  within  
the ,united ,states1 are subjects       
foreign to the powers of this  society4 
,the society1 as a society1 recognizes  
no principles in reference to the  slave
 system4  ,it says nothing1 and proposes
 to do nothing1 respecting  it4 4 4 4   
,so far as we can ascertain1 the        
supporters of the  colonization policy  
generally believe that slavery is in    
this country a  constitptional and      
legitimate system1 which they have no   
inclination1  interest1 nor ability to  
disturb4    #c4  ,it regards ,god's     
rational creatures as property4         
,proof4  ,we hold their slaves1 as we   
hold their other property1 sacred4      
,it is equally plain and undeniable that
 the society1 in the prosecution  of    
this work1 has never interfered or      
evinced even a disposition to  interfere
 in any way with the rights of          
proprietors of slaves4    ,to the       
slave-holder1 who has charged upon them 
the wicked design of  interfering with  

the rights of property under the        
specious pretext of  removing a vicious 
and dangerous free population1 they     
address themselves  in a tone of        
conciliation and sympathy4  ,we know    
your rights1 say they1  and we respect  
them4    #d4  ,it boasts that its       
measures are calculated to perpetuate   
the detested  system of slavery1 to     
remove the fears of the slave-holder1   
and increase  the value of his stock of 
human beings4    ,proof4  ,they 7the    
,southern slave-holders7 will contribute
 more  effectually to the continuance   
and strength of this system 7slavery7 by
  removing those now free than by any or
 all other methods which can  possibly  
be devised4    ,so far from being       
connected with the abolition of slavery1
 the measure  proposed would be one of  
the greatest securities to enable the   
master to  keep in possession his own   
property4--,speech of ,john ,randolph at
 the  first meeting of the ,colonization
 ,society4    ,the tendency of the      

scheme1 and one of its objects1 is to   
secure slave-  holders1 and the whole   
,southern country1 against certain evil 
consequences growing out of the present 
threefold mixture of our  population4   
,there was but one way 7to avert        
danger71 but that might be made         
effectual1 fortunately4  ,it was to     
provide and keep open a drain for the   
excess beyond the occasions of          
profitable employment4  ,mr4 ,archer had
  been stating the case in the          
supposition1 that after the present     
class of  free blacks had been          
exhausted1 by the operation of the plan 
he was  recommending1 others would be   
supplied for its action1 in the         
proportion  of the excess of colored    
population it would be necessary to     
throw off1  by the process of voluntary 
manumission or sale4  ,this effect must 
result  inevitably from the depreciating
 value of the slaves1 ensuing their     
disproportionate multiplication4  ,the  
depreciation would be relieved and      

retarded at the same time by the        
process4  ,the two operations would aid 
reciprocally1 and sustain each other1   
and both be in the highest degree       
beneficial4  ,it was on the ground of   
interest1 therefore1 the most           
indisputable pecuniary interest1 that he
 addressed himself to the people  and   
legislatures of the slave-holding       
states4    ,the slave-holder1 who is in 
danger of having his slaves contaminated
 by  their free friends of color1 will  
not only be relieved from this danger1  
but the value of his slave will be      
enhanced4    #e4  ,it denies the power  
of ,christian love to overcome an unholy
 prejudice  against a portion of our    
fellow-creatures4    ,proof4  ,the      
managers consider it clear that causes  
exist and are  operating to prevent     
their 7the blacks7 improvement and      
elevation to any  considerable extent as
 a class1 in this country1 which are    
fixed1 not  only beyond the control of  
the friends of humanity1 but of any     

human  power4  ,christianity will not do
 for them here what it will do for them 
in ,africa4  ,this is not the fault of  
the colored man1 nor ,christianity2  but
 an ordination of ,providence1 and no   
more to be changed than the laws  of    
,nature6--,last ,annual ,report of the  
,american ,colonization ,society4       
,the habits1 the feelings1 all the      
prejudices of society--prejudices  which
 neither refinement1 nor argument1 nor  
education1 nor religion  itself1 can    
subdue--mark the people of color1       
whether bond or free1 as  the subjects  
of a degradation inevitable and         
incurable4  ,the ,african in  this      
country belongs by birth to the very    
lowest station in society1 and  from    
that station he can never rise1 be his  
talents1 his enterprise1 his  virtues   
what they may4 4  4  4  ,they constitute
 a class by themselves1 a  class out of 
which no individual can be elevated1 and
 below which none  can be depressed4    
,is it not wise1 then1 for the free     

people of color and their friends to    
admit1 what cannot reasonably be        
doubted1 that the people of color must1 
in this country1 remain for ages1       
probably forever1 a separate and        
inferior caste1 weighed down by causes1 
powerful1 universal1 inevitable2  which 
neither legislation nor ,christianity   
can remove8    #f4  ,it opposes         
strenuously the education of the blacks 
in this country as  useless as well as  
dangerous4    ,proof4  ,if the free     
colored people were generally taught to 
read it  might be an inducement to them 
to remain in this country 7that is1 in  
their native country74  ,we would offer 
then no such inducement4--  ,southern   
,religious ,telegraph1 ,february #ai1   
#ahca4    ,the public safety of our     
brethren at the ,south requires them    
7the  slaves7 to be kept ignorant and   
uninstructed4    ,it is the business of 
the free 7their safety requires it7 to  
keep the  slaves in ignorance4  ,but a  
few days ago a proposition was made in  

the  legislature of ,georgia to allow   
them so much instruction as to enable   
them to read the ,bible2 which was      
promptly rejected by a large            
majority4--,proceedings of ,new ,york   
,state ,colonization ,society at its    
second anniversary4    ,e4 ,b4          
,caldwell1 the first ,secretary of the  
,american ,colonization ,society1  in   
his speech at its formation1 recommended
 them to be kept in the  lowest state of
 ignorance and degradation1 for 7says   
he7 the nearer you  bring them to the   
condition of brutes1 the better chance  
do you give them  of possessing their   
apathy4    ,my limits will not admit of 
a more extended examination4  ,to the   
documents from whence the above extracts
 have been made ,i would call the       
attention of every real friend of       
humanity4  ,i seek to do the            
,colonization ,society no injustice1 but
 ,i wish the public generally to        
understand its character4    ,the       
tendency of the society to abolish the  

slave-trade by means of its  ,african   
colony has been strenuously urged by its
 friends4  ,but the  fallacy of this is 
now admitted by all3 witness the        
following from the  reports of the      
society itself3--    ,some appalling    
facts in regard to the slave-trade have 
come to the  knowledge of the ,board of 
,managers during the last year4  ,with  
undiminished atrocity and activity is   
this odious traffic now carried on  all 
along the ,african coast4  ,slave       
factories are established in the        
immediate vicinity of the colony2 and at
 the ,gallinas 7between ,liberia  and   
,sierra ,leone7 not less than nine      
hundred slaves were shipped during  the 
last summer1 in the space of three      
weeks4    ,april #f1 #ahcb1 the ,house  
of ,commons of ,england ordered the     
printing of a  document entitled        
,slave-,trade1 ,sierra ,leone1          
containing official  evidence of the    
fact that the pirates engaged in the    
,african slave-trade  are supplied from 

the stores of ,sierra ,leone and        
,liberia with such  articles as the     
infernal traffic demands6  ,an able     
,english writer on the  subject of      
,colonization thus notices this         
astounding fact3--    ,and here it may  
be well to observe1 that as long as     
negro slavery lasts1  all colonies on   
the ,african coast1 of whatever         
description1 must tend to  support it1  
because1 in all commerce1 the supply is 
more or less  proportioned to the       
demand4  ,the demand exists in negro    
slavery2 the  supply arises from the    
,african slave-trade4  ,and what greater
 convenience  could the ,african        
slave-traders desire than shops well    
stored along the  coast with the very   
articles which their trade demands4     
,that the ,african  slave-traders do get
 thus supplied at ,sierra ,leone and    
,liberia is matter  of official         
evidence2 and we know1 from the nature  
of human things1 that  they will get so 
supplied1 in defiance of all law or     

precaution1 as long  as the demand calls
 for the supply1 and there are free     
shops stored with  all they want at     
hand4  ,the shopkeeper1 however honest1 
would find it  impossible always to     
distinguish between the ,african        
slave-trader or his  agents and other   
dealers4  ,and how many shopkeepers are 
there anywhere  that would be over      
scrupulous in questioning a customer    
with a full  purse8    ,but we are told 
that the ,colonization ,society is to   
civilize and  evangelize ,africa4       
,each emigrant1 says ,henry ,clay1 the  
ablest advocate which the society  has  
yet found1 is a missionary1 carrying    
with him credentials in the  holy cause 
of civilization1 religion1 and free     
institutions4    ,beautiful and         
heart-cheering idea6  ,but stay who are 
these emigrants1  these missionaries8   
,the free people of color4  ,they1 and  
they only1 says the ,african            
,repository1 the society's organ1 are   
qualified for colonizing ,africa4       

,what are their qualifications8  ,let   
the society answer in its own words3--  
,free blacks are a greater nuisance than
 even slaves themselves4--  ,african    
,repository1 vol4 ii4  p4 #cbh4    ,a   
horde of miserable people--the objects  
of universal suspicion--  subsisting by 
plunder4    ,an anomalous race of beings
 the most debased upon earth4--,african 
,repository1 vol4 vii4 p4 #bcj4    ,of  
all classes of our population the most  
vicious is that of the free             
colored4--,tenth ,annual ,report of the 
,colonization ,society4    ,i might go  
on to quote still further from the      
credentials which the  free people of   
color are to carry with them to         
,liberia4  ,but ,i forbear4    ,i come  
now to the only practicable1 the only   
just scheme of emancipation3  ,immediate
 abolition of slavery2 an immediate     
acknowledgment of the great  truth1 that
 man cannot hold property in man2 an    
immediate surrender of  baneful         
prejudice to ,christian love2 an        

immediate practical obedience to  the   
command of ,jesus ,christ3 ,whatsoever  
ye would that men should do unto  you1  
do ye even so to them4    ,a correct    
understanding of what is meant by       
immediate abolition must  convince every
 candid mind that it is neither         
visionary nor dangerous2  that it       
involves no disastrous consequences of  
bloodshed and desolation2  but1 on the1 
contrary1 that it is a safe1            
practicable1 efficient remedy  for the  
evils of the slave system4    ,the term 
immediate is used in contrast with that 
of gradual4  ,earnestly  as ,i wish it1 
,i do not expect1 no one expects1 that  
the tremendous system  of oppression can
 be instantaneously overthrown4  ,the   
terrible and  unrebukable indignation of
 a free people has not yet been         
sufficiently  concentrated against it4  
,the friends of abolition have not      
forgotten the  peculiar organization of 
our confederacy1 the delicate division  
of power  between the states and the    

general government4  ,they see the many 
obstacles in their pathway2 but they    
know that public opinion can  overcome  
them all4  ,they ask no aid of physical 
coercion4  ,they seek to  obtain their  
object not with the weapons of violence 
and blood1 but with  those of reason and
 truth1 prayer to ,god1 and entreaty to 
man4    ,they seek to impress indelibly 
upon every human heart the true         
doctrines  of the rights of man2 to     
establish now and forever this great and
  fundamental truth of human liberty1   
that man cannot hold property in his    
brother2 for they believe that the      
general admission of this truth will    
utterly destroy the system of slavery1  
based as that system is upon a  denial  
or disregard of it4  ,to make use of the
 clear exposition of an  eminent        
advocate of immediate abolition1 our    
plan of emancipation is  simply this3   
,to promulgate the true doctrine of     
human rights in high  places and low    
places1 and all places where there are  

human beings2 to  whisper it in chimney 
corners1 and to proclaim it from the    
house-tops1  yea1 from the              
mountain-tops2 to pour it out like water
 from the pulpit  and the press2 to     
raise it up with all the food of the    
inner man1 from  infancy to gray hairs2 
to give 'line upon line1 and precept    
upon  precept1' till it forms one of the
 foundation principles and parts        
indestructible of the public soul4  ,let
 those who contemn this plan  renounce1 
if they have not done it already1 the   
gospel plan of converting  the world2   
let them renounce every plan of moral   
reformation1 and every  plan whatsoever1
 which does not terminate in the        
gratification of their  own animal      
natures4    ,the friends of emancipation
 would urge in the first instance an    
immediate  abolition of slavery in the  
,district of ,columbia1 and in the      
,territories  of ,florida and ,arkansas4
    ,the number of slaves in these      
portions of the country1 coming under   

the  direct jurisdiction of the general 
government1 is as follows3--            
,district of ,columbia 44444 #f1aai     
,territory of ,arkansas 4444 #d1egf     
,territory of ,florida 4444 #ae1eja     
,total   #bf1aif    ,here1 then1 are    
twenty-six thousand human beings1       
fashioned in the image  of ,god1 the    
fitted temples of ,his ,holy ,spirit1   
held by the government in  the abhorrent
 chains of slavery4  ,the power to      
emancipate them is clear4  ,it is       
indisputable4 ,it does not depend upon  
the twenty-five slave votes  in         
,congress4  ,it lies with the free      
states4  ,their duty is before them3  in
 the fear of ,god1 and not of man let   
them perform it4    ,let them at once   
strike off the grievous fetters4  ,let  
them declare that  man shall no longer  
hold his fellow-man in bondage1 a beast 
of burden1 an  article of traffic1      
within the governmental domain4  ,god   
and truth and  eternal justice demand   
this4  ,the very reputation of our      

fathers1 the  honor of our land1 every  
principle of liberty1 humanity1         
expediency1  demand it4  ,a sacred      
regard to free principles originated our
  independence1 not the paltry amount of
 practical evil complained of4  ,and    
although our fathers left their great   
work unfinished1 it is our duty to      
follow out their principles4  ,short of 
liberty and equality we cannot  stop    
without doing injustice to their        
memories4  ,if our fathers intended     
that slavery should be perpetual1 that  
our practice should forever give  the   
lie to our professions1 why is the great
 constitutional compact so  guardedly   
silent on the subject of human          
servitude8  ,if state necessity         
demanded this perpetual violation of the
 laws of ,god and the rights of  man1   
this continual solecism in a government 
of freedom1 why is it not  met as a     
necessity1 incurable and inevitable1 and
 formally and distinctly  recognized as 
a settled part of our social system8    

,state necessity1 that  imperial tyrant1
 seeks no disguise4  ,in the language of
 ,sheridan1 ,what  he does1 he dares    
avow1 and avowing1 scorns any other     
justification than  the great motives   
which placed the iron sceptre in his    
grasp4    ,can it be possible that our  
fathers felt this state necessity strong
 upon  them8  ,no2 for they left open   
the door for emancipation1 they left us 
the  light of their pure principles of  
liberty1 they framed the great charter  
of ,american rights1 without employing a
 term in its structure to which in      
aftertimes of universal freedom the     
enemies of our country could point  with
 accusation or reproach4    ,what1 then1
 is our duty8    ,to give effect to the 
spirit of our ,constitution2 to plant   
ourselves upon  the great declaration   
and declare in the face of all the world
 that  political1 religious1 and legal  
hypocrisy shall no longer cover as with 
loathsome leprosy the features of       
,american freedom2 to loose at once the 

bands of wickedness2 to undo the heavy  
burdens1 and let the oppressed go  free4
    ,we have indeed been authoritatively
 told in ,congress and elsewhere that   
our brethren of the ,south and ,west    
will brook no further agitation of the  
subject of slavery4  ,what then6 shall  
we heed the unrighteous  prohibition8   
,no2 by our duty as ,christians1 as     
politicians1 by our duty  to ourselves1 
to our neighbor1 and to ,god1 we are    
called upon to agitate  this subject2 to
 give slavery no resting-place under the
 hallowed aegis  of a government of     
freedom2 to tear it root and branch1    
with all its  fruits of abomination1 at 
least from the soil of the national     
domain4  ,the slave-holder may mock us2 
the representatives of property1        
merchandise1 vendible commodities1 may  
threaten us2 still our duty is          
imperative2 the spirit of the           
,constitution should be maintained      
within  the exclusive jurisdiction of   
the government4  ,if we cannot provide  

for  the general welfare1 if we cannot  
guarantee to each of the states a       
republican form of government1 let us at
 least no longer legislate for a  free  
nation within view of the falling whip1 
and within hearing of the  execrations  
of the task-master and the prayer of his
 slave6    ,i deny the right of the     
slave-holder to impose silence on his   
brother of  the ,north in reference to  
slavery4  ,what6  compelled to maintain 
the  system1 to keep up the standing    
army which protects it1 and yet be      
denied  the poor privilege of           
remonstrance6  ,ready1 at the summons of
 the master  to put down the            
insurrections of his slaves1 the        
outbreaking of that  revenge which is   
now1 and has been1 in all nations1 and  
all times1 the  inevitable consequence  
of oppression and wrong1 and yet like   
automata to  act but not speak6  ,are we
 to be denied even the right of a slave1
 the  right to murmur8    ,i am not     
unaware that my remarks may be regarded 

by many as dangerous and  exceptionable2
 that ,i may be regarded as a fanatic   
for quoting the  language of eternal    
truth1 and denounced as an incendiary   
for  maintaining1 in the spirit as well 
as the letter1 the doctrines of         
,american ,independence4  ,but if such  
are the consequences of a simple        
performance of duty1 ,i shall not regard
 them4  ,if my feeble appeal but        
reaches the hearts of any who are now   
slumbering in iniquity2 if it shall     
have power given it to shake down one   
stone from that foul temple where  the  
blood of human victims is offered to the
 ,moloch of slavery2 if under           
,providence it can break one fetter from
 off the image of ,god1 and enable  one 
suffering ,african    ,to feel  ,the    
weight of human misery less1 and glide  
,ungroaning to the tomb1    ,i shall not
 have written in vain2 my conscience    
will be satisfied4    ,far be it from me
 to cast new bitterness into the gall   
and wormwood  waters of sectional       

prejudice4  ,no2 ,i desire peace1 the   
peace of  universal love1 of catholic   
sympathy1 the peace of a common         
interest1 a  common feeling1 a common   
humanity4  ,but so long as slavery is   
tolerated1  no such peace can exist4    
,liberty and slavery cannot dwell in    
harmony  together4  ,there will be a    
perpetual war in the members of the     
political ,mezentius between the living 
and the dead4  ,god and man have  placed
 between them an everlasting barrier1 an
 eternal separation4  ,no  matter under 
what name or law or compact their union 
is attempted1 the  ordination of        
,providence has forbidden it1 and it    
cannot stand4  ,peace6  there can be no 
peace between justice and oppression1   
between robbery and  righteousness1     
truth and falsehood1 freedom and        
slavery4    ,the slave-holding states   
are not free4  ,the name of liberty is  
there1 but  the spirit is wanting4      
,they do not partake of its invaluable  
blessings4  ,wherever slavery exists to 

any considerable extent1 with the       
exception of  some recently settled     
portions of the country1 and which have 
not yet  felt in a great degree the     
baneful and deteriorating influences of 
slave  labor1 we hear at this moment the
 cry of suffering4  ,we are told of     
grass-grown streets1 of crumbling       
mansions1 of beggared planters and      
barren plantations1 of fear from        
without1 of terror within4  ,the once   
fertile fields are wasted and           
tenantless1 for the curse of slavery1   
the  improvidence of that labor whose   
hire has been kept back by fraud1 has   
been there1 poisoning the very earth    
beyond the reviving influence of the    
early and the latter rain4  ,a moral    
mildew mingles with and blasts the      
economy of nature4  ,it is as if the    
finger of the everlasting ,god had      
written upon the soil of the            
slave-holder the language of ,his       
displeasure4    ,let1 then1 the         
slave-holding states consult their      

present interest by  beginning without  
delay the work of emancipation4  ,if    
they fear not1 and  mock at the fiery   
indignation of ,him1 to whom vengeance  
belongeth1 let  temporal interest       
persuade them4  ,they know1 they must   
know1 that the  present state of things 
cannot long continue4  ,mind is the same
  everywhere1 no matter what may be the 
complexion of the frame which it        
animates3 there is a love of liberty    
which the scourge cannot eradicate1  a  
hatred of oppression which centuries of 
degradation cannot extinguish4  ,the    
slave will become conscious sooner or   
later of his brute strength1  his       
physical superiority1 and will exert it4
  ,his torch will be at the  threshold  
and his knife at the throat of the      
planter4  ,horrible and  indiscriminate 
will be his vengeance4  ,where1 then1   
will be the pride1  the beauty1 and the 
chivalry of the ,south8  ,the smoke of  
her torment will  rise upward like a    
thick cloud visible over the whole      

earth4         ,belie the negro's       
powers3 in headlong will1               
,christian1 thy brother thou shalt find 
him still4       ,belie his virtues3    
since his wrongs began1       ,his      
follies and his crimes have stamped him 
man4    ,let the cause of insurrection  
be removed1 then1 as speedily as        
possible4  ,cease to oppress4  ,let him 
that stole steal no more4  ,let the     
laborer  have his hire4  ,bind him no   
longer by the cords of slavery1 but with
  those of kindness and brotherly love4 
,watch over him for his good4  ,pray    
for him2 instruct him2 pour light into  
the darkness of his mind4    ,let this  
be done1 and the horrible fears which   
now haunt the slumbers of  the          
slave-holder will depart4  ,conscience  
will take down its racks and  gibbets1  
and his soul will be at peace4  ,his    
lands will no longer  disappoint his    
hopes4  ,free labor will renovate them4 
,historical facts2 the nature of the    
human mind2 the demonstrated truths  of 

political economy2 the analysis of cause
 and effect1 all concur in              
establishing3    #a4  ,that immediate   
abolition is a safe and just and        
peaceful remedy for  the evils of the   
slave system4    #b4  ,that free labor1 
its necessary consequence1 is more      
productive1 and  more advantageous to   
the planter than slave labor4    ,in    
proof of the first proposition it is    
only necessary to state the  undeniable 
fact that immediate emancipation1       
whether by an individual or  a          
community1 has in no instance been      
attended with violence and disorder  on 
the part of the emancipated2 but that on
 the contrary it has promoted           
cheerfulness1 industry1 and laudable    
ambition in the place of sullen         
discontent1 indolence1 and despair4     
,the case of ,st4 ,domingo is in point4 
,blood was indeed shed on that  island  
like water1 but it was not in           
consequence of emancipation4  ,it was   
shed in the civil war which preceded it1

 and in the iniquitous attempt to       
restore the slave system in #ahja4  ,it 
flowed on the sanguine altar of         
slavery1 not on the pure and peaceful   
one of emancipation4  ,no2 there1 as  in
 all the world and in all time1 the     
violence of oppression engendered       
violence on the part of the oppressed1  
and vengeance followed only upon  the   
iron footsteps of wrong4  ,when1 where1 
did justice to the injured  waken their 
hate and vengeance8  ,when1 where1 did  
love and kindness and  sympathy irritate
 and madden the persecuted1 the         
broken-hearted1 the  foully wronged8    
,in ,september1 #agic1 the ,commissioner
 of the ,french ,national ,convention   
issued his proclamation giving immediate
 freedom to all the slaves of ,st4      
,domingo4  ,did the slaves baptize their
 freedom in blood8  ,did they fight     
like unchained desperadoes because they 
had been made free8  ,did they  murder  
their emancipators8  ,no2 they acted1 as
 human beings must act1  under similar  

circumstances1 by a law as irresistible 
as those of the  universe3 kindness     
disarmed them1 justice conciliated them1
 freedom  ennobled them4  ,no tumult    
followed this wide and instantaneous    
emancipation4  ,it cost not one drop of 
blood2 it abated not one tittle of  the 
wealth or the industry of the island4   
,colonel ,malenfant1 a slave  proprietor
 residing at the time on the island1    
states that after the  public act of    
abolition1 the negroes remained         
perfectly quiet2 they had  obtained all 
they asked for1 liberty1 and they       
continued to work upon all  the         
plantations4--,malenfant in ,memoirs for
 a ,history of ,st4 ,domingo by         
,general ,lecroix1 #ahai4    ,there were
 estates1 he says1 which had neither    
owners nor managers  resident upon them1
 yet upon these estates1 though         
abandoned1 the negroes  continued their 
labors where there were any1 even       
inferior1 agents to  guide them2 and on 
those estates where no white men were   

left to direct  them1 they betook       
themselves to the planting of           
provisions2 but upon all  the           
plantations where the whites resided the
 blacks continued to labor as  quietly  
as before4  ,colonel ,malenfant says    
that when many of his  neighbors1       
proprietors or managers1 were in prison1
 the negroes of their  plantations came 
to him to beg him to direct them in     
their work4  ,if you  will take care not
 to talk to them of the restoration of  
slavery1 but  talk to them of freedom1  
you may with this word chain them down  
to their  labor4  ,how did ,toussaint   
succeed8  ,how did ,i succeed before his
 time in  the plain of the ,cul-de-,sac 
on the plantation of ,gouraud1 during   
more  than eight months after liberty   
had been granted to the slaves8  ,let   
those who knew me at that time1 let the 
blacks themselves be asked4  ,they  will
 all reply that not a single negro upon 
that plantation1 consisting  of more    
than four hundred and fifty laborers1   

refused to work2 and yet  this          
plantation was thought to be under the  
worst discipline and the  slaves the    
most idle of any in the plain4  ,i      
inspired the same activity  into three  
other plantations of which ,i had the   
management4  ,if all the  negroes had   
come from ,africa within six months1 if 
they had the love of  independence that 
the ,indians have1 ,i should own that   
force must be  employed2 but ninety-nine
 out of a hundred of the blacks are     
aware that  without labor they cannot   
procure the things that are necessary   
for them2  that there is no other method
 of satisfying their wants and their    
tastes4  ,they know that they must work1
 they wish to do so1 and they will do   
so4    ,this is strong testimony4  ,in  
#agif1 three years after the act of     
emancipation1 we are told that the      
colony was flourishing under            
,toussaint1 that the whites lived       
happily and peaceably on their estates1 
and the blacks continued to work for    

them4  ,up to #ahja the same happy      
state of things continued4  ,the colony 
went on as by enchantment2  cultivation 
made day by day a perceptible progress1 
under the  recuperative energies of free
 labor4    ,in #ahja ,general ,vincent1 
a proprietor of estates in the island1  
was sent  by ,toussaint to ,paris for   
the purpose of laying before the        
,directory the  new ,constitution which 
had been adopted at ,st4 ,domingo4  ,he 
reached  ,france just after the peace of
 ,amiens1 when ,napoleon was fitting out
 his  ill-starred armament for the      
insane purpose of restoring slavery in  
the  island4  ,general ,vincent         
remonstrated solemnly and earnestly     
against an  expedition so preposterous1 
so cruel and unnecessary2 undertaken at 
a  moment when all was peace and        
quietness in the colony1 when the       
proprietors were in peaceful possession 
of their estates1 when  cultivation was 
making a rapid progress1 and the blacks 
were industrious  and happy beyond      

example4  ,he begged that this beautiful
 state of things  might not be reversed4
  ,the remonstrance was not regarded1   
and the  expedition proceeded4  ,its    
issue is well known4  ,threatened once  
more  with the horrors of slavery1 the  
peaceful and quiet laborer became       
transformed into a demon of ferocity4   
,the plough-share and the pruning-  hook
 gave way to the pike and the dagger4   
,the white invaders were driven  back by
 the sword and the pestilence2 and then1
 and not till then1 was  the property of
 the planters seized upon by the excited
 and infuriated  blacks4    ,in #ahjd   
,dessalines was proclaimed ,emperor of  
,hayti4  ,the black troops  were in a   
great measure disbanded1 and they       
immediately returned to the  cultivation
 of the plantations4  ,from that period 
up to the present there  has been no    
want of industry among the inhabitants4 
,mr4 ,harvey1 who during the reign of   
,christophe resided at ,cape ,francois1 
in describing the character and         

condition of the inhabitants1 says ,it  
was an interesting sight to behold this 
class of the ,haytiens1 now in          
possession of their freedom1 coming in  
groups to the market nearest which  they
 resided1 bringing the produce of their 
industry there for sale2 and  afterwards
 returning1 carrying back the necessary 
articles of living  which the disposal  
of their commodities had enabled them to
 purchase2 all  evidently cheerful and  
happy4  ,nor could it fail to occur to  
the mind  that their present condition  
furnished the most satisfactory answer  
to  that objection to the general       
emancipation of slaves founded on their 
alleged unfitness to value and improve  
the benefits of liberty4  4  4  4  ,as  
they would not suffer1 so they do not   
require1 the attendance of one  acting  
in the capacity of a driver with the    
instrument of punishment in  his hand4  
,as far as ,i had an opportunity of     
ascertaining from what fell  under my   
own observation1 and from what ,i       

gathered from other ,european           
residents1 ,i am persuaded of one       
general fact1 which on account of its   
importance ,i shall state in the most   
explicit terms1 namely1 that the        
,haytiens employed in cultivating the   
plantations1 as well as the rest of  the
 population1 perform as much work in a  
given time as they were  accustomed to  
do during their subjection to the       
,french4  ,and if we may  judge of their
 future improvement by the change which 
has been already  effected1 it may be   
reasonably anticipated that ,hayti will 
erelong  contain a population not       
inferior in their industry to that of   
any  civilized nation in the world4  4  
4  4  ,every man had some calling to    
occupy his attention2 instances of      
idleness or intemperance were of rare   
occurrence2 the most perfect            
subordination prevailed1 and all        
appeared  contented and happy4  ,a      
foreigner would have found it difficult 
to  persuade himself1 on his first      

entering the place1 that the people he  
now  beheld so submissive1 industrious1 
and contented1 were the same people  who
 a few years before had escaped from the
 shackles of slavery4    ,the present   
condition of ,hayti may be judged of    
from the following well-  authenticated 
facts its population is more than       
#gjj1jjj1 its resources  ample1 its     
prosperity and happiness general1 its   
crimes few1 its labor  crowned with     
abundance1 with no paupers save the     
decrepit and aged1 its  people          
hospitable1 respectful1 orderly1 and    
contented4    ,the manumitted slaves1   
who to the number of two thousand were  
settled in  ,nova ,scotia by the        
,british ,government at the close of the
 ,revolutionary  ,war1 led a harmless   
life1 and gained the character of an    
honest1  industrious people from their  
white neighbors4  ,of the free laborers 
of  ,trinidad we have the same report4  
,at the ,cape of ,good ,hope1 three     
thousand negroes received their freedom1

 and with scarce a single  exception    
betook themselves to laborious          
employments4    ,but we have yet        
stronger evidence4  ,the total          
abolishment of slavery in  the southern 
republics has proved beyond dispute the 
safety and utility  of immediate        
abolition4  ,the departed ,bolivar      
indeed deserves his  glorious title of  
,liberator1 for he began his career of  
freedom by  striking off the fetters of 
his own slaves1 seven hundred in number4
    ,in an official letter from the     
,mexican ,envoy of the ,british         
,government1  dated ,mexico1 ,march1    
#ahbf1 and addressed 'to the ,right     
,hon4  ,george  ,canning1 the           
superiority of free over slave labor is 
clearly demonstrated  by the following  
facts3--    #b4  ,it is now carried on  
exclusively by the labor of free blacks4
    #c4  ,it was formerly wholly        
sustained by the forced labor of slaves1
  purchased at ,vera ,cruz at #cjj to   
#djj each4    #d4  ,abolition in this   

section was effected not by governmental
  interference1 not even from motives of
 humanity1 but from an irresistible     
conviction on the part of the planters  
that their pecuniary interest  demanded 
it4    #e4  ,the result has proved the  
entire correctness of this conviction2  
and  the planters would now be as       
unwilling as the blacks themselves to   
return  to the old system4    ,let our  
,southern brethren imitate this example4
  ,it is in vain1 in the  face of facts 
like these1 to talk of the necessity of 
maintaining the  abominable system1     
operating as it does like a double curse
 upon planters  and slaves4  ,heaven and
 earth deny its necessity4  ,it is as   
necessary as  other robberies1 and no   
more4    ,yes1 putting aside altogether 
the righteous law of the living         
,god--the  same yesterday1 to-day1 and  
forever--and shutting out the clearest  
political truths ever taught by man1    
still1 in human policy selfish          
expediency would demand of the planter  

the immediate emancipation of his       
slaves4    ,because slave labor is the  
labor of mere machines2 a mechanical    
impulse  of body and limb1 with which   
the mind of the laborer has no sympathy1
 and  from which it constantly and      
loathingly revolts4    ,because slave   
labor deprives the master altogether of 
the incalculable  benefit of the negro's
 will4  ,that does not cooperate with   
the forced  toil of the body4  ,this is 
but the necessary consequence of all    
labor  which does not benefit the       
laborer4  ,it is a just remark of that  
profound  political economist1 ,adam    
,smith1 that a slave can have no other  
interest  than to eat and waste as much1
 and work as little1 as he can4    ,to  
my mind1 in the wasteful and blighting  
influences of slave labor there  is a   
solemn and warning moral4    ,they seem 
the evidence of the displeasure of ,him 
who created man after  ,his own image1  
at the unnatural attempt to govern the  
bones and sinews1  the bodies and souls1

 of one portion of ,his children by the 
caprice1 the  avarice1 the lusts of     
another2 at that utter violation of the 
design of  ,his merciful ,providence1   
whereby the entire dependence of        
millions of ,his  rational creatures is 
made to centre upon the will1 the       
existence1 the  ability1 of their       
fellow-mortals1 instead of resting under
 the shadow of  ,his own ,infinite      
,power and exceeding love4    ,i shall  
offer a few more facts and observations 
on this point4    #a4  ,a distinguished 
scientific gentleman1 ,mr4 ,coulomb1 the
 superintendent  of several military    
works in the ,french ,west ,indies1     
gives it as his  opinion1 that the      
slaves do not perform more than one     
third of the labor  which they would do1
 provided they were urged by their own  
interests and  inclinations instead of  
brute force4    #b4  ,a plantation in   
,barbadoes in #aghj was cultivated by   
two hundred and  eighty-eight slaves    
ninety men1 eighty-two women1 fifty-six 

boys1 and  sixty girls4  ,in three years
 and three months there were on this    
plantation fifty-seven deaths1 and only 
fifteen births4  ,a change was  then    
made in the government of the slaves4   
,the use of the whip was  denied2 all   
severe and arbitrary punishments were   
abolished2 the laborers  received wages1
 and their offences were all tried by a 
sort of negro  court established among  
themselves3 in short1 they were         
practically free4  ,under this system1  
in four years and three months there    
were forty-four  births1 and but        
forty-one deaths2 and the annual net    
produce of the  plantation was more than
 three times what it had been           
before4--,english  ,quarterly ,magazine 
and ,review1 ,april1 #ahcb4    #c4  ,the
 following evidence was adduced by ,pitt
 in the ,british ,parliament1  ,april1  
#agib4  ,the assembly of ,grenada had   
themselves stated1 that though  the     
negroes were allowed only the afternoon 
of one day in a week1 they  would do as 

much work in that afternoon1 when       
employed for their own  benefit1 as in  
the whole day when employed in their    
master's service4  ,now after this      
confession1 said ,mr4 ,pitt1 the house  
might burn all its  calculations        
relative to the negro population4  ,a   
negro1 if he worked for  himself1 could 
no doubt do double work4  ,by an        
improvement1 then1 in the  mode of      
labor1 the work in the islands could be 
doubled4    #d4  ,in coffee districts it
 is usual for the master to hire his    
people  after they have done the regular
 task for the day1 at a rate varying    
from  #aj;d4 to #ae4h;d4  for every     
extra bushel which they pluck from the  
trees2  and many1 almost all1 are found 
eager to earn their wages4    #e4  ,in a
 report made by the commandant of       
,castries for the government of  ,st4   
,lucia1 in #ahbb1 it is stated1 in proof
 of the intimacy between the  slaves and
 the free blacks1 that many small       
plantations of the latter1  and occupied

 by only one man and his wife1 are      
better cultivated and have  more land in
 cultivation than those of the          
proprietors of many slaves1  and that   
the labor on them is performed by       
runaway slaves2 thus clearly  proving   
that even runaway slaves1 under the     
all-depressing fears of  discovery and  
oppression1 labor well1 because the     
fruits of their labor  are immediately  
their own4    ,let us look at this      
subject from another point of view4     
,the large sum of  money necessary for  
stocking a plantation with slaves has an
 inevitable  tendency to place the      
agriculture of a slave-holding community
  exclusively in the hands of the       
wealthy1 a tendency at war with         
practical  republicanism and conflicting
 with the best maxims of political      
economy4    ,two hundred slaves at #bjj 
per head would cost in the outset       
#dj1jjj4  ,compare this enormous outlay 
for the labor of a single plantation    
with  the beautiful system of free labor

 as exhibited in ,new ,england1 where   
every young laborer1 with health and    
ordinary prudence1 may acquire by  his  
labor on the farms of others1 in a few  
years1 a farm of his own1 and  the stock
 necessary for its proper cultivation2  
where on a hard and  unthankful soil    
independence and competence may be      
attained by all4    ,free labor is      
perfectly in accordance with the spirit 
of our  institutions2 slave labor is a  
relic of a barbarous1 despotic age4     
,the  one1 like the firmament of heaven1
 is the equal diffusion of similar      
lights1 manifest1 harmonious1 regular2  
the other is the fiery  predominance of 
some disastrous star1 hiding all lesser 
luminaries around  it in one consuming  
glare4    ,emancipation would reform    
this evil4  ,the planter would no longer
 be  under the necessity of a heavy     
expenditure for slaves4  ,he would only 
pay  a very moderate price for his      
labor2 a price1 indeed1 far less than   
the  cost of the maintenance of a       

promiscuous gang of slaves1 which the   
present system requires4    ,in an old  
plantation of three hundred slaves1 not 
more than one hundred  effective        
laborers will be found4  ,children1 the 
old and superannuated1  the sick and    
decrepit1 the idle and incorrigibly     
vicious1 will be found  to constitute   
two thirds of the whole number4  ,the   
remaining third  perform only about one 
third as much work as the same number of
 free  laborers4    ,now disburden the  
master of this heavy load of            
maintenance2 let him  employ free able1 
industrious laborers only1 those who    
feel conscious of  a personal interest  
in the fruits of their labor1 and who   
does not see  that such a system would  
be vastly more safe and economical than 
the  present8    ,the slave states are  
learning this truth by fatal experience4
  ,most of  them are silently writhing  
under the great curse4  ,virginia has   
uttered  her complaints aloud4  ,as yet1
 however1 nothing has been done even    

there1  save a small annual             
appropriation for the purpose of        
colonizing the free  colored inhabitants
 of the state4  ,is this a remedy8      
,but it may be said that ,virginia will 
ultimately liberate her slaves on       
condition of their colonization in      
,africa1 peacefully if possible1        
forcibly if necessary4    ,well1        
admitting that ,virginia may be able and
 willing at some remote  period to rid  
herself of the evil by commuting the    
punishment of her  unoffending colored  
people from slavery to exile1 will her  
fearful remedy  apply to some of the    
other slaveholding states8    ,it is a  
fact1 strongly insisted upon by our     
,southern brethren as a reason  for the 
perpetuation of slavery1 that their     
climate and peculiar  agriculture will  
not admit of hard labor on the part of  
the whites2 that  amidst the fatal      
malaria of the rice plantations the     
white man is almost  annually visited by
 the country fever2 that few of the     

white overseers of  these plantations   
reach the middle period of ordinary     
life2 that the  owners are compelled to 
fly from their estates as the hot season
  approaches1 without being able to     
return until the first frosts have      
fallen4  ,but we are told that the      
slaves remain there1 at their work1     
mid-leg in putrid water1 breathing the  
noisome atmosphere1 loaded with         
contagion1 and underneath the scorching 
fervor of a terrible sun2 that  they    
indeed suffer2 but1 that their habits1  
constitutions1 and their long  practice 
enable them to labor1 surrounded by such
 destructive influences1  with          
comparative safety4    ,the conclusive  
answer1 therefore1 to those who in      
reality cherish the  visionary hope of  
colonizing all the colored people of the
 ,united ,states  in ,africa or         
elsewhere1 is this single1 all-important
 fact3 ,the labor of  the blacks will   
not and cannot be dispensed with by the 
planter of the  ,south4    ,to what     

remedy1 then1 can the friends of        
humanity betake themselves but  to that 
of emancipation8    ,and nothing but a  
strong1 unequivocal expression of public
 sentiment is  needed to carry into     
effect this remedy1 so far as the       
general government  is concerned4       
,and when the voice of all the          
non-slave-holding states shall be heard 
on  this question1 a voice of           
expostulation1 rebuke1 entreaty--when   
the full  light of truth shall break    
through the night of prejudice1 and     
reveal all  the foul abominations of    
slavery1 will ,delaware still cling to  
the curse  which is wasting her moral   
strength1 and still rivet the fetters   
upon her  three or four thousand slaves8
  ,let ,delaware begin the work1 and    
,maryland  and ,virginia must follow2   
the example will be contagious2 and the 
great  object of universal emancipation 
will be attained4  ,freemen1            
,christians1  lovers of truth and       
justice ,why stand ye idle8  ,ours is a 

government of  opinion1 and slavery is  
interwoven with it4  ,change the current
 of  opinion1 and slavery will be swept 
away4  ,let the awful sovereignty of    
the people1 a power which is limited    
only by the sovereignty of ,heaven1     
arise and pronounce judgment against the
 crying iniquity4  ,let each  individual
 remember that upon himself rests a     
portion of that  sovereignty2 a part of 
the tremendous responsibility of its    
exercise4  ,the burning1 withering      
concentration of public opinion upon the
 slave  system is alone needed for its  
total annihilation4  ,god has given us  
the  power to overthrow it2 a power     
peaceful1 yet mighty1 benevolent1 yet   
effectual1 awful without severity1 a    
moral strength equal to the  emergency4 
,how does it happen1 inquires an able   
writer1 that whenever duty is named  we 
begin to hear of the weakness of human  
nature8  ,that same nature which        
outruns the whirlwind in the chase of   
gain1 which rages like a maniac at  the 

trumpet call of glory1 which laughs     
danger and death to scorn when  its     
least passion is awakened1 becomes weak 
as childhood when reminded of  the      
claims of duty4  ,but let no one hope to
 find an excuse in hypocrisy4  ,the     
humblest individual of the community in 
one way or another possesses  influence2
 and upon him as well as upon the       
proudest rests the  responsibility of   
its rightful exercise and proper        
direction4  ,the  overthrow of a great  
national evil like that of slavery can  
only be  effected by the united energies
 of the great body of the people4       
,shoulder must be put to shoulder and   
hand linked with hand1 the whole  mass  
must be put in motion and its entire    
strength applied1 until the  fabric of  
oppression is shaken to its dark        
foundations and not one stone  is left  
upon another4    ,let the ,christian    
remember that the ,god of his worship   
hateth oppression2  that the mystery of 
faith can only be held by a pure        

conscience2 and that  in vain is the    
tithe of mint1 and anise1 and cummin1 if
 the weihtier  matters of the law1      
judgment1 mercy1 and truth1 are         
forgotten4  ,let him  remember that all 
along the clouded region of slavery the 
truths of the  everlasting gospel are   
not spoken1 that the ear of iniquity is 
lulled1  that those who minister between
 the porch and the altar dare not speak 
out the language of eternal justice3 ,is
 not this the fast which ,i have        
chosen8 to loose the bands of           
wickedness1 to undo the heavy burdens1  
and  to let the oppressed go free8      
7,isa4 viii4 #f47 ,he that stealeth a   
man  and selleth him2 or if he be found 
in his hand1 he shall surely be put to  
death4  7,exod4 xxi4 #af4a7 ,yet a      
little while and the voice of impartial 
prayer for humanity will be heard no    
more in the abiding place of  slavery4  
,the truths of the gospel1 its voice of 
warning and exhortation1  will be       
denounced as incendiary8  ,the night of 

that infidelity1 which  denies ,god in  
the abuse and degradation of man1 will  
settle over the  land1 to be broken only
 by the upheaving earthquake of eternal 
retribution4    ,to the members of the  
religious ,society of ,friends1 ,i would
 earnestly  appeal4  ,they have already 
done much to put away the evil of       
slavery in  this country and ,great     
,britain4  ,the blessings of many who   
were ready to  perish have rested upon  
them4  ,but their faithful testimony    
must be still  steadily upborne1 for the
 great work is but begun4  ,let them not
 relax  their exertions1 nor be         
contented with a lifeless testimony1 a  
formal  protestation against the evil4  
,active1 prayerful1 unwearied exertion  
is  needed for its overthrow4  ,but     
above all1 let them not aid in excusing 
and palliating it4  ,slavery has no     
redeeming qualities1 no feature of      
benevolence1 nothing pure1 nothing      
peaceful1 nothing just4  ,let them      
carefully keep themselves aloof from all

 societies and all schemes which  have a
 tendency to excuse or overlook its     
crying iniquity4  ,true to a  doctrine  
founded on love and mercy1 peace on     
earth and good will to  men1 they should
 regard the suffering slave as their    
brother1 and  endeavor to put their     
souls in his soul's stead4  ,they may   
earnestly  desire the civilization of   
,africa1 but they cannot aid in building
 up the  colony of ,liberia so long as  
that colony leans for support upon the  
arm  of military power2 so long as it   
proselytes to ,christianity under the   
muzzles of its cannon2 and preaches the 
doctrines of ,christ while  practising  
those of ,mahomet4  ,when the ,sierra   
,leone ,company was formed in  ,england1
 not a member of the ,society of        
,friends could be prevailed upon  to    
engage in it1 because the colony was to 
be supplied with cannon and  other      
military stores4  ,yet the ,foreign     
,agent of the ,liberia ,colony          
,society1 to which the same             

insurmountable objection exists1 is a   
member  of the ,society of ,friends1 and
 ,i understand has been recently        
employed in  providing gunpowder1 etc41 
for the use of the colony4  ,there must 
be an  awakening on this subject2 other 
,woolmans and other ,benezets must arise
  and speak the truth with the meek love
 of ,james and the fervent sincerity  of
 ,paul4    ,to the women of ,america1   
whose sympathies know no distinction of 
cline1  or sect1 or color1 the suffering
 slave is making a strong appeal4  ,oh1 
let it not be unheeded6 for of those to 
whom much is given much will be         
required at the last dread tribunal2 and
 never in the strongest terms of  human 
eulogy was woman's influence overrated4 
,sisters1 daughters1 wives1  and        
mothers1 your influence is felt         
everywhere1 at the fireside1 and in  the
 halls of legislation1 surrounding1 like
 the all-encircling  atmosphere1 brother
 and father1 husband and son6  ,and by  
your love of  them1 by every holy       

sympathy of your bosoms1 by every       
mournful appeal  which comes up to you  
from hearts whose sanctuary of          
affections has been  made waste and     
desolate1 you are called upon to exert  
it in the cause of  redemption from     
wrong and outrage4    ,let the patriot1 
the friend of liberty and the ,union of 
the ,states1 no  longer shut his eyes to
 the great danger1 the master-evil      
before which  all others dwindle into   
insignificance4  ,our ,union is         
tottering to its  foundation1 and       
slavery is the cause4  ,remove the evil4
  ,dry up at their  source the bitter   
waters4  ,in vain you enact and abrogate
 your tariffs2  in vain is individual   
sacrifice1 or sectional concession4     
,the accursed  thing is with us1 the    
stone of stumbling and the rock of      
offence remains4  ,drag1 then1 the      
,achan into light2 and let national     
repentance atone for  national sin4     
,the conflicting interests of free and  
slave labor furnish the only ground  for

 fear in relation to the permanency of  
the ,union4  ,the line of  separation   
between them is day by day growing      
broader and deeper2  geographically and 
politically united1 we are already1 in a
 moral point  of view1 a divided people4
  ,but a few months ago we were on the  
very  verge of civil war1 a war of      
brothers1 a war between the ,north and  
the  ,south1 between the slave-holder   
and the free laborer4  ,the danger has  
been delayed for a time2 this bolt has  
fallen without mortal injury to  the    
,union1 but the cloud from whence it    
came still hangs above us1  reddening   
with the elements of destruction4       
,recent events have furnished ample     
proof that the slave-holding interest   
is prepared to resist any legislation on
 the part of the general  government    
which is supposed to have a tendency1   
directly or indirectly1  to encourage   
and invigorate free labor2 and that it  
is determined to  charge upon its       
opposite interest the infliction of all 

those evils which  necessarily attend   
its own operation1 the primeval curse of
 ,omnipotence  upon slavery4    ,we have
 already felt in too many instances the 
extreme difficulty of  cherishing in one
 common course of national legislation  
the opposite  interests of republican   
equality and feudal aristocracy and     
servitude4  ,the truth is1 we have      
undertaken a moral impossibility4       
,these interests  are from their nature 
irreconcilable4  ,the one is based upon 
the pure  principles of rational        
liberty2 the other1 under the name of   
freedom1  revives the ancient ,european 
system of barons and villains1 nobles   
and  serfs4  ,indeed1 the state of      
society which existed among our         
,anglo-,saxon  ancestors was far more   
tolerable than that of many portions of 
our  republican confederacy4  ,for the  
,anglo-,saxon slaves had it in their    
power  to purchase their freedom2 and   
the laws of the realm recognized their  
liberation and placed them under legal  

protection4         ,the diffusion of   
,christianity in ,great ,britain was    
moreover       followed by a general    
manumission2 for it would seem that the 
priests and missionaries of religion in 
that early and benighted age       were 
more faithful in the performance of     
their duties than those of       the    
present4  ,the holy fathers1 monks1 and 
friars1 says ,sir ,t4       ,smith1 had 
in their confessions1 and specially in  
their extreme and       deadly sickness1
 convinced the laity how dangerous a    
thing it was       for one ,christian to
 hold another in bondage2 so that       
temporal men1       by reason of the    
terror in their consciences1 were glad  
to manumit       all their              
villains4--,hilt4  ,commonwealth1       
,blackstone1 p4  #eb4    ,to counteract 
the dangers resulting from a state of   
society so utterly at  variance with the
 great ,declaration of ,american freedom
 should be the  earnest endeavor of     
every patriotic statesman4  ,nothing    

unconstitutional1  nothing violent1     
should be attempted2 but the true       
doctrine of the rights  of man should be
 steadily kept in view2 and the         
opposition to slavery  should be        
inflexible and constantly maintained4   
,the almost daily  violations of the    
,constitution in consequence of the laws
 of some of the  slave states1          
subjecting free colored citizens of ,new
 ,england and  elsewhere1 who may happen
 to be on board of our coasting vessels1
 to  imprisonment immediately on their  
arrival in a ,southern port should be   
provided against4  ,nor should the      
imprisonment of the free colored        
citizens of the ,northern and ,middle   
states1 on suspicion of being  runaways1
 subjecting them1 even after being      
pronounced free1 to the costs  of their 
confinement and trial1 be longer        
tolerated2 for if we continue  to yield 
to innovations like these upon the      
,constitution of our fathers1  we shall 
erelong have the name only of a free    

government left us4    ,dissemble as we 
may1 it is impossible for us to believe1
 after fully  considering the nature of 
slavery1 that it can much longer        
maintain a  peaceable existence among   
us4  ,a day of revolution must come1 and
 it is  our duty to prepare for it4     
,its threatened evil may be changed into
 a  national blessing4  ,the            
establishment of schools for the        
instruction of  the slave children1 a   
general diffusion of the lights of      
,christianity1  and the introduction of 
a sacred respect for the social         
obligations of  marriage and for the    
relations between parents and children1 
among our  black population1 would      
render emancipation not only perfectly  
safe1 but  also of the highest advantage
 to the country4  ,two millions of      
freemen  would be added to our          
population1 upon whom in the hour of    
danger we  could safely depend2 the     
domestic foe would be changed into a    
firm  friend1 faithful1 generous1 and   

ready to encounter all dangers in our   
defence4  ,it is well known that during 
the last war with ,great ,britain1      
wherever the enemy touched upon our     
,southern coast1 the slaves in          
multitudes hastened to join them4  ,on  
the other hand1 the free blacks  were   
highly serviceable in repelling them4   
,so warm was the zeal of the  latter1 so
 manifest their courage in the defence  
of ,louisiana1 that the  present ,chief 
,magistrate of the ,united ,states      
publicly bestowed upon them  one of the 
highest eulogiums ever offered by a     
commander to his soldiers4    ,let no   
one seek an apology for silence on the  
subject of slavery because  the laws of 
the land tolerate and sanction it4  ,but
 a short time ago the  slave-trade was  
protected by laws and treaties1 and     
sanctioned by the  example of men       
eminent for the reputation of piety and 
integrity4  ,yet  public opinion broke  
over these barriers2 it lifted the      
curtain and  revealed the horrors of    

that most abominable traffic2 and       
unrighteous law  and ancient custom and 
avarice and luxury gave way before its  
irresistible authority4  ,it should     
never be forgotten that human law       
cannot change the nature of human action
 in the pure eye of infinite  justice2  
and that the ordinances of man cannot   
annul those of ,god4  ,the  slave       
system1 as existing in this country1 can
 be considered in no other  light than  
as the cause of which the foul traffic  
in human flesh is the  legitimate       
consequence4  ,it is the parent1 the    
fosterer1 the sole  supporter of the    
slave-trade4  ,it creates the demand for
 slaves1 and the  foreign supply will   
always be equal to the demand of        
consumption4  ,it  keeps the market     
open4  ,it offers inducements to the    
slave-trader which  no severity of law  
against his traffic can overcome4  ,by  
our laws his  trade is piracy2 while    
slavery1 to which alone it owes its     
existence1 is  protected and cherished1 

and those engaged in it are rewarded by 
an  increase of political power         
proportioned to the increase of their   
stock  of human beings6  ,to steal the  
natives of ,africa is a crime worthy of 
an  ignominious death2 but to steal and 
enslave annually nearly one hundred     
thousand of the descendants of these    
stolen natives1 born in this  country1  
is considered altogether excusable and  
proper6  ,for my own part1  ,i know no  
difference between robbery in ,africa   
and robbery at home4  ,i  could with as 
quiet a conscience engage in the one as 
the other4    ,there is not one general 
principle1 justly remarks ,lord ,nugent1
 on  which the slave-trade is to be     
stigmatized which does not impeach      
slavery  itself4  ,kindred in iniquity1 
both must fall speedily1 fall together1 
and be consigned to the same            
dishonorable grave4  ,the spirit which  
is  thrilling through every nerve of    
,england is awakening ,america from her 
sleep of death4  ,who1 among our        

statesmen1 would not shrink from the    
baneful reputation of having supported  
by his legislative influence the        
slave-trade1 the traffic in human flesh8
  ,let them then beware2 for the  time  
is near at hand when the present        
defenders of slavery will sink  under   
the same fatal reputation1 and leave to 
posterity a memory which  will blacken  
through all future time1 a legacy of    
infamy4    ,let us not betake us to the 
common arts and stratagems of nations1  
but  fear ,god1 and put away the evil   
which provokes ,him2 and trust not in   
man1  but in the living ,god2 and it    
shall go well for ,england6  ,this      
counsel1  given by the purehearted      
,william ,penn1 in a former age1 is     
about to be  followed in the present4   
,an intense and powerful feeling is     
working in  the mighty heart of         
,england2 it is speaking through the    
lips of ,brougham  and ,buxton and      
,o',connell1 and demanding justice in   
the name of humanity  and according to  

the righteous law of ,god4  ,the        
immediate emancipation of  eight hundred
 thousand slaves is demanded with an    
authority which cannot  much longer be  
disputed or trifled with4  ,that demand 
will be obeyed2  justice will be done2  
the heavy burdens will be unloosed2 the 
oppressed  set free4  ,it shall go well 
for ,england4    ,and when the stain on 
our own escutcheon shall be seen no     
more2 when the  ,declaration of our     
,independence and the practice of our   
people shall  agree2 when truth shall be
 exalted among us2 when love shall take 
the  place of wrong2 when all the       
baneful pride and prejudice of caste and
  color shall fall forever2 when under  
one common sun of political liberty  the
 slave-holding portions of our republic 
shall no longer sit1 like the           
,egyptians of old1 themselves mantled in
 thick darkness1 while all around  them 
is glowing with the blessed light of    
freedom and equality1 then1 and  not    
till then1 shall it go well for         

,america6                               
,,the ,,abolitionists4                  
,,their ,,sentiments ,,and ,,objects4   
,two letters to the ',jeffersonian and  
,times'1 ,richmond1 ,va4                
,i4    ,a ,,friend has banded me a late 
number of your paper1 containing a brief
  notice of a pamphlet1 which ,i have   
recently published on the subject of    
slavery4    ,from an occasional perusal 
of your paper1 ,i have formed a         
favorable  opinion of your talent and   
independence4  ,compelled to dissent    
from some  of your political sentiments1
 ,i still give you full credit for the  
lofty  tone of sincerity and manliness  
with which these sentiments are avowed  
and defended4    ,i perceive that since 
the adjustment of the tariff question a 
new subject  of discontent and agitation
 seems to engross your attention4       
,the accursed tariff has no sooner      
ceased to be the stone of stumbling  and
 the rock of offence1 than the abolition
 doctrines of the ,northern             

enthusiasts1 as you are pleased to term 
the doctrines of your own  ,jefferson1  
furnish1 in your opinion1 a sufficient  
reason for poising the  ,ancient        
,dominion on its sovereignty1 and       
rousing every slaveowner to  military   
preparations1 until the entire ,south1  
from the ,potomac to the  ,gulf1 shall  
bristle with bayonets1 like quills upon 
the fretful  porcupine4    ,in proof of 
a conspiracy against your vested rights1
 you have commenced  publishing copious 
extracts from the pamphlets and         
periodicals of the  abolitionists of    
,new ,england and ,new ,york4  ,an      
extract from my own  pamphlet you have  
headed ,the ,fanatics1 and in           
introducing it to your  readers you     
inform them that it exhibits1 in strong 
colors1 the morbid  spirit of that false
 and fanatical philanthropy1 which is at
 work in the  ,northern states1 and1 to 
some extent1 in the ,south4             
,gentlemen1 so far as ,i am personally  
concerned in the matter1 ,i feel no     

disposition to take exceptions to any   
epithets which you may see fit to  apply
 to me or my writings4  ,a humble son of
 ,new ,england--a tiller of her  rugged 
soil1 and a companion of her            
unostentatious yeomanry--it matters     
little1 in any personal consideration of
 the subject1 whether the voice  of     
praise or opprobrium reaches me from    
beyond the narrow limits of my          
immediate neighborhood4    ,but when ,i 
find my opinions quoted as the sentiment
 of ,new ,england1 and  then denounced  
as dangerous1 false and fanatical2 and  
especially when ,i  see them made the   
occasion of earnest appeals to the      
prejudices and  sectional jealousies of 
the ,south1 it becomes me to endeavor to
 establish  their truths1 and defend    
them from illegitimate influences and   
unjust  suspicions4    ,in the first    
place1 then1 let me say1 that if it be  
criminal to publicly  express a belief  
that it is in the power of the slave    
states to  emancipate their slaves1 with

 profit and safety to themselves1 and   
that  such is their immediate duty1 a   
majority of the people of ,new ,england 
are  wholly guiltless4  ,of course1 all 
are nominally opposed to slavery2 but   
upon the little band of abolitionists   
should the anathemas of the slave-      
holder be directed1 for they are the    
agitators of whom you complain1 men  who
 are acting under a solemn conviction of
 duty1 and who are bending  every energy
 of their minds to the accomplishment of
 their object4    ,and that object is   
the overthrow of slavery in the ,united 
,states1 by such  means only as are     
sanctioned by law1 humanity1 and        
religion4    ,i shall endeavor1         
gentlemen1 as briefly as may be1 to give
 you some of  our reasons for opposing  
slavery and seeking its abolition2 and1 
secondly1 to explain our mode of        
operation2 to disclose our plan of      
emancipation1 fully and entirely4  ,we  
wish to do nothing darkly2 frank        
republicans1 we acknowledge no          

double-dealing4  ,at this busy season of
  the year1 ,i cannot but regret that ,i
 have not leisure for such a  deliberate
 examination of the subject as even my  
poor ability might  warrant4  ,my       
remarks1 penned in the intervals of     
labor1 must necessarily  be brief1 and  
wanting in coherence4    ,we seek the   
abolishment of slavery    #a4  ,because 
it is contrary to the law of ,god4      
,in your paper of the #b;d of #gth mo41 
the same in which you denounce the      
false and fanatical philanthropy of     
abolitionists1 you avow yourselves      
members of the ,bible ,society1 and     
bestow warm and deserved encomiums on   
the truly pious undertaking of sending  
the truth among all nations4    ,you1   
therefore1 gentlemen1 whatever others   
may do1 will not accuse me of           
fanaticism1 if ,i endeavor to sustain my
 first great reason for opposing        
slavery by a reference to the volume of 
inspiration3    ,therefore1 all things  
whatsoever ye would that men should do  

to you do  ye even so to them4          
,wherefore now let the fear of the ,lord
 be upon you1 take heed and do it2  for 
there is no iniquity with the ,lord1 nor
 respect of persons4    ,is not this the
 fast that ,i have chosen8  ,to loose   
the bands of  wickedness2 to undo the   
heavy burdens and let the oppressed go  
free1 and  that ye break every yoke8    
,if a man be found stealing any of his  
brethren1 and maketh merchandise  of    
him1 or selling him1 that thief shall   
die4    ,of a truth1 ,i perceive that   
,god is no respecter of persons4    ,and
 he that stealeth a man and selleth him1
 or if he be found in his  hands1 he    
shall surely be put to death4    #b4    
,because it is an open violation of all 
human equality1 of the laws of  ,nature 
and of nations4    ,the fundamental     
principle of all equal and just law is  
contained in the  following extract from
 ,blackstone's ,commentaries1           
,introduction1 sec4  #b4    ,the rights 
which ,god and ,nature have established1

 and which are  therefore called natural
 rights1 such as life and liberty1 need 
not the  aid of human laws to be more   
effectually vested in every man than    
they  are2 neither do they receive any  
additional strength when declared by    
municipal laws to be inviolable3 on the 
contrary1 no human legislation  has     
power to abridge or destroy there1      
unless the owner shall himself  commit  
some act that amounts to a forfeiture4  
,has the negro committed such offence8  
,above all1 has his infant child        
forfeited its unalienable right8        
,surely it can be no act of the innocent
 child4    ,yet you must prove the      
forfeiture1 or no human legislation can 
deprive  that child of its freedom4     
,its black skin constitutes the         
forfeiture6    ,what6 throw the         
responsibility upon ,god6  ,charge the  
common ,father of the  white and the    
black1 ,he1 who is no respecter of      
persons1 with plundering  ,his          
unoffending children of all which makes 

the boon of existence  desirable2 their 
personal liberty6    ,we hold these     
truths to be self-evident3 ,that all men
 are created equal2  that they are      
endowed by their ,creator with certain  
unalienable rights2  that among these   
are life1 liberty1 and the pursuit of   
happiness4--  ,declaration of           
,independence1 from the pen of ,thomas  
,jefferson4    ,in this general and     
unqualified declaration1 on the #dth of 
,july1 #aggf1  all the people of the    
,united ,states1 without distinction of 
color1 were  proclaimed free1 by the    
delegates of the people of those states 
assembled  in their highest sovereign   
capacity4    ,for more than half a      
century we have openly violated that    
solemn  declaration4    #c4  ,because it
 renders nugatory the otherwise         
beneficial example of our  free         
institutions1 and exposes us to the     
scorn and reproach of the  liberal and  
enlightened of other nations4    ,chains
 clank and groans echo around the walls 

of their spotless  ,congress4--,francis 
,jeffrey4    ,man to be possessed by    
man6  ,man to be made property of6  ,the
 image of  the ,deity to be put under   
the yoke6  ,let these usurpers show us  
their  title-deeds6--,simon ,boliver4   
,when ,i am indulging in my views of    
,american prospects and ,american       
liberty1 it is mortifying to be told    
that in that very country a large       
portion of the people are slaves6  ,it  
is a dark spot on the face of the       
nation4  ,such a state of things cannot 
always exist4--,lafayette4    ,i deem it
 right to raise my humble voice to      
convince the citizens of  ,america that 
the slaveholding states are held in     
abomination by all those  whose opinion 
ought to be valuable4  ,man is the      
property of man in about  one half of   
the ,american ,states3 let them not     
therefore dare to prate of  their       
institutions or of their national       
freedom1 while they hold their          
fellow-men in bondage6  ,of all men     

living1 the ,american citizen who is    
the owner of slaves is the most         
despicable4  ,he is a political         
hypocrite  of the very worst            
description4  ,the friends of humanity  
and liberty in  ,europe should join in  
one universal cry of shame on the       
,american slave-  holders6  ',base      
wretches6' should we shout in chorus2   
'base wretches6  how dare you profane   
the temple of national freedom1 the     
sacred fane of  republican rites1 with  
the presence and the sufferings of human
 beings in  chains and                  
slavery6'--,daniel ,o',connell4    #d4  
,because it subjects one portion of our 
,american brethren to the  unrestrained 
violence and unholy passions of another4
    ,here1 gentlemen1 ,i might summon to
 my support a cloud of witnesses1 a     
host of incontrovertible1 damning facts1
 the legitimate results of a  system    
whose tendency is to harden and deprave 
the heart4  ,but ,i will not  descend to
 particulars4  ,i am willing to believe 

that the majority of the  masters of    
your section of the country are disposed
 to treat their  unfortunate slaves with
 kindness4  ,but where the dreadful     
privilege of  slave-holding is extended 
to all1 in every neighborhood1 there    
must be  individuals whose cupidity is  
unrestrained by any principle of        
humanity1  whose lusts are fiercely     
indulged1 whose fearful power over the  
bodies1  nay1 may ,i not say the souls1 
of their victims is daily and hourly    
abused4    ,will the evidence of your   
own ,jefferson1 on this point1 be       
admissible8    ,the whole commerce      
between master and slave is a perpetual 
exercise1 of  the most boisterous       
passions2 the most unremitting despotism
 on the one  part1 and degrading        
submission on the other4  ,our children 
see this1 and  learn to imitate it4     
,the parent storms1 the child looks on1 
catches the  lineaments of wrath1 puts  
on the same airs in the circle of       
smaller  slaves1 gives loose to the     

worst of passions2 and thus nursed1     
educated1  and daily exercised in       
tyranny1 cannot fail to be stamped by it
 with  odious peculiarities4  ,the man  
must be a prodigy who can retain his    
morals and manners undepraved by such   
circumstances4--,notes on  ,virginia1 p4
 #bda4    ,il n'existe a la verite      
aucune loi qui protege l'esclave le     
mauvais  traitement du maitre1 says     
,achille ,murat1 himself a ,floridian   
slave-  holder1 in his late work on the 
,united ,states4    ,gentlemen1 is not  
this true8  ,does there exist even in   
,virginia any law  limiting the         
punishment of a slave8  ,are there any  
bounds prescribed1  beyond which the    
brutal1 the revengeful1 the intoxicated 
slave-master1  acting in the double     
capacity of judge and executioner1      
cannot pass8    ,you will1 perhaps1 tell
 me that the general law against murder 
applies  alike to master and slave4     
,true2 but will you point out instances 
of  masters suffering the penalty of    

that law for the murder of their slaves8
  ,if you examine your judicial reports 
you will find the wilful murder of a    
slave decided to be only a              
trespass6--,virginia ,reports1 vol4 v4  
p4 #dha1  ,harris versus ,nichols4      
,it indeed argues well for ,virginian   
pride of character1 that latterly1  the 
law1 which expressly sanctioned the     
murder of a slave1 who in the  language 
of ,georgia and ,north ,carolina1 died  
of moderate correction1  has been       
repealed4  ,but1 although the letter of 
the law is changed1 its  practice       
remains the same4  ,in proof of this1 ,i
 would refer to  ,brockenborough and    
,holmes' ,virginia ,cases1 p4 #beh4     
,in ,georgia and ,north ,carolina the   
murder of a slave is tolerated and      
justified by law1 provided that in the  
opinion of the court he died of         
moderate correction6    ,in ,south      
,carolina the following clause of a law 
enacted in #agdj is still  in force3--  
,if any slave shall suffer in his life1 

limbs1 or members1 when no white  person
 shall be present1 or being present     
shall neglect or refuse to give         
evidence concerning the same1 in every  
such case the owner or other  person who
 shall have the care and government of  
the slave shall be  deemed and taken to 
be guilty of such offence2 unless such  
owner or other  person can make the     
contrary appear by good and sufficient  
evidence1 or  shall by his own oath     
clear and exculpate himself1 which oath 
every court  where such offence shall be
 tried is hereby empowered to administer
 and  to acquit the offender            
accordingly1 if clear proof of the      
offence be not  made by two witnesses at
 least1 any law1 usage1 or custom to the
 contrary  notwithstanding4    ,is not  
this offering a reward for perjury8     
,and what shall we think of  that       
misnamed court of justice1 where it is  
optional with the witnesses1  in a case 
of life and death1 to give or withhold  
their testimony4    #e4  ,because it    

induces dangerous sectional jealousies1 
creates of  necessity a struggle between
 the opposing interests of free and     
slave  labor1 and threatens the         
integrity of the ,union4    ,that       
sectional jealousies do exist1 the tone 
of your paper1 gentlemen1 is  of itself 
an evidence1 if indeed any were needed4 
,the moral sentiment of  the free states
 is against slavery4  ,the freeman has  
declared his  unwillingness that his    
labor should be reduced to a level with 
that of  slaves4  ,harsh epithets and   
harsh threats have been freely          
exchanged1  until the beautiful         
,potomac1 wherever it winds its way to  
the ocean1 has  become the dividing     
line1 not of territory only1 but of     
feeling1  interest1 national pride1 a   
moral division4    ,what shook the      
pillars of the ,union when the ,missouri
 question was  agitated8  ,what but a   
few months ago arrayed in arms a state  
against the  ,union1 and the ,union     
against a state8    ,from ,maine to     

,florida1 gentlemen1 the answer must be 
the same1 slavery4    #f4  ,because of  
its pernicious influence upon national  
wealth and  prosperity4    ,political   
economy has been the peculiar study of  
,virginia4  ,but there are  some        
important truths connected with this    
science which she has hitherto          
overlooked or wantonly disregarded4     
,population increasing with the means of
 subsistence is a fair test of  national
 wealth4    ,by reference to the several
 censuses of the ,united ,states1 it    
will be  seen that the white population 
increases nearly twice as fast in states
  where there are few or no slaves as in
 the slave states4    ,again1 in the    
latter states the slave population has  
increased twice as  fast as the white4  
,let us take1 for example1 the period of
 twenty years1  from #agij to #ahaj1 and
 compare the increase of the two classes
 in three  of the ,southern states4     
,per cent4 of whites4  ,per cent4 of    
blacks4    ,maryland       #ac          

#ca  ,virginia       #bd                
#ch  ,north ,carolina #cj               
#gj    ,the causes of this              
disproportionate increase1 so inimical  
to the true  interests of the country1  
are very manifest4    ,a large          
proportion of the free inhabitants of   
the ,united ,states are  dependent upon 
their labor for subsistence4  ,the      
forced1 unnatural system  of slavery in 
some of the states renders the demand   
for free laborers  less urgent2 they are
 not so readily and abundantly supplied 
with the  means of subsistence as those 
of their own class in the free states1  
and  as the necessaries of life diminish
 population also diminishes4    ,there  
is yet another cause for the decline of 
the white population4  ,in  the free    
states labor is reputable4  ,the        
statesman1 whose eloquence has          
electrified a nation1 does not disdain  
in the intervals of the public  service 
to handle the axe and the hoe4  ,and the
 woman whose beauty1  talents1 and      

accomplishments have won the admiration 
of all deems it no  degradation to look 
well to her household4    ,but the slave
 stamps with indelible ignominy the     
character of occupation4  ,it is a      
disgrace for a highborn ,virginian or   
chivalrous ,carolinian to  labor1 side  
by side1 with the low1 despised1        
miserable black man4  ,wretched must be 
the condition of the poorer classes of  
whites in a  slave-holding community6   
,compelled to perform the despised      
offices of  the slave1 they can hardly  
rise above his level4  ,they become the 
pariahs  of society4  ,no wonder1 then1 
that the tide of emigration flows from  
the  slave-cursed shores of the         
,atlantic to the free valleys of the    
,west4    ,in ,new ,england the labor of
 a farmer or mechanic is worth from #aej
 to  #bjj per annum4  ,that of a female 
from #ej to #ajj4  ,our entire          
population1 with the exception of those 
engaged in mercantile affairs1  the     
professional classes1 and a very few    

moneyed idlers1 are working men  and    
women4  ,if that of the ,south were     
equally employed 7and slavery  apart1   
there is no reason why they should not  
be71 how large an addition  would be    
annually made to the wealth of the      
country8  ,the truth is1 a  very        
considerable portion of the national    
wealth produced by ,northern  labor is  
taxed to defray the expenses of         
twenty-five representatives of          
,southern property in ,congress1 and to 
maintain an army mainly for the         
protection of the slave-master against  
the dangerous tendencies of that        
property4    ,in the early and better   
days of the ,roman ,republic1 the       
ancient warriors  and statesmen         
cultivated their fields with their own  
hands2 but so soon  as their agriculture
 was left to the slaves1 it visibly     
declined1 the  once fertile fields      
became pastures1 and the inhabitants of 
that garden  of the world were dependent
 upon foreign nations for the           

necessaries of  life4  ,the beautiful   
villages1 once peopled by free contented
 laborers1  became tenantless1 and1 over
 the waste of solitude1 we see1 here and
  there1 at weary distances1 the palaces
 of the master1 contrasting  painfully  
with the wretched cottages and          
subterranean cells of the slave4  ,in   
speaking of the extraordinary fertility 
of the soil in the early times  of the  
,republic1 ,pliny inquires1 ,what was   
the cause of these abundant  harvests8  
,it was this1 that men of rank employed 
themselves in the  culture of the       
fields2 whereas now it is left to       
wretches loaded with  fetters1 who carry
 in their countenances the shameful     
evidence of their  slavery4    ,and what
 was true in the days of the ,roman is  
now written legibly upon  the soil of   
your own ,virginia4  ,a traveller in    
your state1 in  contemplating the       
decline of its agriculture1 has justly  
remarked that1  if the miserable        
condition of the negro had left his mind

 for  reflection1 he would laugh in his 
chains to see how slavery has stricken  
the land with ugliness4    ,is the rapid
 increase of a population of slaves in  
itself no evil8  ,in  all the slave     
states the increase of the slaves is    
vastly more rapid than  that of the     
whites or free blacks4  ,when we        
recollect that they are under  no       
natural or moral restraint1 careless of 
providing food or clothing for          
themselves or their children2 when1 too1
 we consider that they are raised  as an
 article of profitable traffic1 like the
 cattle of ,new ,england and  the hogs  
of ,kentucky2 that it is a matter of    
interest1 of dollars and  cents1 to the 
master that they should multiply as fast
 as possible1 there  is surely nothing  
at all surprising in the increase of    
their numbers4  ,would to heaven there  
were also nothing alarming6    #g4      
,because1 by the terms of the national  
compact1 the free and the slave  states 
are alike involved in the guilt of      

maintaining slavery1 and the  citizens  
of the former are liable1 at any moment1
 to be called upon to  aid the latter in
 suppressing1 at the point of the       
bayonet1 the  insurrection of the       
slaves4    ,slavery is1 at the best1 an 
unnatural state4  ,and ,nature1 when her
  eternal principles are violated1 is   
perpetually struggling to restore  them 
to their first estate4    ,all history1 
ancient and modern1 is full of warning  
on this point4  ,need  ,i refer to the  
many revolts of the ,roman and ,grecian 
slaves1 the bloody  insurrection of     
,etruria1 the horrible servile wars of  
,sicily and ,capua8  ,or1 to come down  
to later times1 to ,france in the       
fourteenth century1  ,germany in the    
sixteenth1 to ,malta in the last8  ,need
 ,i call to mind the  untold horrors of 
,st4  ,domingo1 when that island1 under 
the curse of its  servile war1 glowed   
redly in the view of earth and          
heaven1--an open hell8  ,have our own   
peculiar warnings gone by unheeded1--the

 frequent slave  insurrections of the   
,south8  ,one horrible tragedy1         
gentlemen1 must still  be fresh in your 
recollection1--,southampton1 with its   
fired dwellings and  ghastly dead6      
,southampton1 with its dreadful         
associations1 of the death  struggle    
with the insurgents1 the groans of the  
tortured negroes1 the  lamentations of  
the surviving whites over woman in her  
innocence and  beauty1 and childhood1   
and hoary age6    ,the hour of          
emancipation1 said ,thomas ,jefferson1  
is advancing in the  march of time4  ,it
 will come4  ,if not brought on by the  
generous energy  of our own minds1 it   
will come by the bloody process of ,st4 
,domingo6    ,to the just and prophetic 
language of your own great statesman ,i 
have but  a few words to add4  ,they    
shall be those of truth and soberness4  
,we regard the slave system in your     
section of the country as a great  evil1
 moral and political1--an evil which1 if
 left to itself for even a  few years   

longer1 will give the entire ,south into
 the hands of the  blacks4    ,the terms
 of the national compact compel us to   
consider more than two  millions of our 
fellow-beings as your property2 not1    
indeed1 morally1  really1 de facto1 but 
still legally your property6  ,we       
acknowledge that  you have a power      
derived from the ,united ,states        
,constitution to hold this  property1   
but we deny that you have any moral     
right to take advantage  of that power4 
,for truth will not allow us to admit   
that any human law  or compact can make 
void or put aside the ordinance of the  
living ,god and  the eternal laws of    
,nature4    ,we therefore hold it to be 
the duty of the people of the           
slave-holding  states to begin the work 
of emancipation now2 that any delay must
 be  dangerous to themselves in time and
 eternity1 and full of injustice to     
their slaves and to their brethren of   
the free states4    ,because the slave  
has never forfeited his right to        

freedom1 and the  continuance of his    
servitude is a continuance of robbery2  
and because1 in  the event of a servile 
war1 the people of the free states would
 be called  upon to take a part in its  
unutterable horrors4    ,new ,england   
would obey that call1 for she will abide
 unto death by the  ,constitution of the
 land4  ,yet what must be the feelings  
of her citizens1  while engaged in      
hunting down like wild beasts their     
fellow-men--brutal  and black it may be1
 but still oppressed1 suffering human   
beings1  struggling madly and           
desperately for their liberty1 if they  
feel and know  that the necessity of so 
doing has resulted from a blind fatality
 on the  part of the oppressor1 a       
reckless disregard of the warnings of   
earth and  heaven1 an obstinate         
perseverance in a system founded and    
sustained by  robbery and wrong8    ,all
 wars are horrible1 wicked1 inexcusable1
 and truly and solemnly has  ,jefferson 
himself said that1 in a contest of this 

kind1 between the slave  and the master1
 the ,almighty has no attribute which   
could take side with  us4    ,understand
 us1 gentlemen4  ,we only ask to have   
the fearful necessity  taken away from  
us of sustaining the wretched policy of 
slavery by moral  influence or physical 
force4  ,we ask alone to be allowed to  
wash our  hands of the blood of millions
 of your fellow-beings1 the cry of whom 
is  rising up as a swift witness unto   
,god against us4    #h4  ,because all   
the facts connected with the subject    
warrant us in a most  confident belief  
that a speedy and general emancipation  
might be made  with entire safety1 and  
that the consequences of such an        
emancipation  would be highly beneficial
 to the planters of the ,south4         
,awful as may be their estimate in time 
and eternity1 ,i will not1  gentlemen1  
dwell upon the priceless benefits of a  
conscience at rest1 a  soul redeemed    
from the all-polluting influences of    
slavery1 and against  which the cry of  

the laborer whose hire has been kept    
back by fraud does  not ascend4  ,nor   
will ,i rest the defence of my position 
upon the fact  that it can never be     
unsafe to obey the commands of ,god4    
,these are the  old and common arguments
 of fanatics and enthusiasts1 melting   
away  like frost-work in the glorious   
sunshine of expediency and utility4  ,in
  the light of these modern luminaries1 
then1 let us reason together4    ,a long
 and careful examination of the subject 
will ,i think fully justify  me in      
advancing this general proposition4     
,wherever1 whether in ,europe1 the ,east
 and ,west ,indies1 ,south ,america1 or 
in our own country1 a fair experiment   
has been made of the comparative        
expense of free and slave labor1 the    
result has uniformly been favorable  to 
the former4         ,see ,brougham's    
,colonial ,policy4  ,hodgdon's ,letter  
to ,jean ,baptiste       ,say4  ,waleh's
 ,brazil4  ,official ,letter of ,hon4   
,mr4 ,ward1 from       ,mexico4  ,dr4   

,dickson's ,mitigation of ,slavery4     
,franklin on ,the       ,peopling of    
,countries4  ,ramsay's ,essay4          
,botham's ,sugar ,cultivation       in  
,batavia4  ,marsden's ,history of       
,sumatra4  ,coxe's ,travels4  ,dr4      
,anderson's ,observations on ,slavery4  
,storch's ,political ,economy4          
,adam ,smith4  ,j4 ,jeremies' ,essays4  
,humboldt's ,travels1 etc41 etc4        
,here1 gentlemen1 the issue is tendered4
  ,standing on your own ground of       
expediency1 ,i am ready to defend my    
position4    ,i pass from the utility to
 the safety of emancipation4  ,and here1
  gentlemen1 ,i shall probably be met at
 the outset with your supposed          
consequences1 bloodshed1 rapine1        
promiscuous massacre6    ,the facts1    
gentlemen6  ,in ,god's name1 bring out  
your facts6  ,if slavery  is to cast    
over the prosperity of our country the  
thick shadow of an  everlasting curse1  
because emancipation is dreaded as a    
remedy worse than  the disease itself1  

let us know the real grounds of your    
fear4    ,do you find them in the       
emancipation of the ,south ,american    
,republics8  ,in  ,hayti8  ,in the      
partial experiments of some of the ,west
 ,india ,islands8  ,does history1       
ancient or modern1 justify your fears8  
,can you find any  excuse for them in   
the nature of the human mind1 everywhere
 maddened by  injury and conciliated by 
kindness8  ,no1 gentlemen2 the dangers  
of  slavery are manifest and real1 all  
history lies open for your warning4     
,but the dangers of emancipation1 of    
doing justly and loving mercy1  exist   
only in your imaginations4  ,you cannot 
produce one fact in  corroboration of   
your fears4  ,you cannot point to the   
stain of a single  drop of any master's 
blood shed by the slave he has          
emancipated4    ,i have now given some  
of our reasons for opposing slavery4    
,in my next  letter ,i shall explain our
 method of opposition1 and ,i trust ,i  
shall be  able to show that there is    

nothing fanatical1 nothing              
unconstitutional1 and nothing           
unchristian in that method4    ,in the  
mean time1 gentlemen1 ,i am your friend 
and well-wisher4    ,,haverhill1        
,,mass41 #bb;d #gth ,mo41 #ahcc4        
,,ii4    ,the abolitionists of the      
,north have been grossly misrepresented4
  ,in  attacking the system of slavery1 
they have never recommended any measure 
or measures conflicting with the        
,constitution of the ,united ,states4   
,they have never sought to excite or    
encourage a spirit of rebellion among   
the slaves3 on the contrary1 they would 
hold any such attempt1 by  whomsoever   
made1 in utter and stern abhorrence4    
,all the leading abolitionists of my    
acquaintance are1 from principle1       
opposed to war of all kinds1 believing  
that the benefits of no war  whatever   
can compensate for the sacrifice of one 
human life by violence4                 
,consequently1 they would be the first  
to deprecate any physical  interference 

with your slave system on the part of   
the general  government4    ,they are1  
without exception1 opposed to any       
political interposition of  the         
government1 in regard to slavery as it  
exists in the states4  ,for1  although  
they feel and see that the canker of the
 moral disease is  affecting all parts  
of the confederacy1 they believe that   
the remedy lies  with yourselves alone4 
,any such interference they would       
consider  unlawful and unconstitutional2
 and the exercise of unconstitutional   
power1 although sanctioned by the       
majority of a republican government1    
they believe to be a tyranny as         
monstrous and as odious as the despotism
  of a ,turkish ,sultan4    ,having made
 this disclaimer on the part of myself  
and my friends1 let me  inquire from    
whence this charge of advocating the    
interference of the  general government 
with the sovereign jurisdiction of the  
states has  arisen8  ,will you1         
gentlemen1 will the able editors of the 

,united ,states  ,telegraph and the     
,columbian ,telescope1 explain8  ,for   
myself1 ,i have  sought in vain among   
the writings of our ,northern           
,enthusiasts1 and  among the speeches of
 the ,northern statesmen and            
politicians1 for some  grounds for the  
accusation4    ,the doctrine1 such as it
 is1 does not belong to us4  ,i think it
 may be  traced home to the ,south1 to  
,virginia1 to her ,convention of #ahbi1 
to the  speech of ,ex-,president        
,monroe1 on the white basis question4   
,as to emancipation1 said that          
distinguished son of your state1 if ever
  that should take place1 it cannot be  
done by the state2 it must be done  by  
the ,union4    ,again1 ,if emancipation 
can ever be effected1 it can only be    
done with  the aid of the general       
government4    ,gentlemen1 you are      
welcome to your doctrine4  ,it has no   
advocates among  the abolitionists of   
,new ,england4    ,we aim to overthrow  
slavery by the moral influence of an    

enlightened  public sentiment2    ,by a 
clear and fearless exposition of the    
guilt of holding property in  man2      
,by analyzing the true nature of        
slavery1 and boldly rebuking sin2    ,by
 a general dissemination of the truths  
of political economy1 in regard  to free
 and slave labor2    ,by appeals from   
the pulpit to the consciences of men2   
,by the powerful influence of the public
 press2    ,by the formation of         
societies whose object shall be to      
oppose the  principle of slavery by such
 means as are consistent with our       
obligations  to law1 religion1 and      
humanity2    ,by elevating1 by means of 
education and sympathy1 the character of
 the  free people of color among us4    
,our testimony against slavery is the   
same which has uniformly1 and with  so  
much success1 been applied to prevailing
 iniquity in all ages of the  world1 the
 truths of divine revelation4           
,believing that there can be nothing in 
the ,providence of ,god to which ,his   

holy and eternal law is not strictly    
applicable1 we maintain that no         
circumstances can justify the           
slave-holder in a continuance of his    
system4    ,that the fact that this     
system did not originate with the       
present  generation is no apology for   
retaining it1 inasmuch as crime cannot  
be  entailed2 and no one is under a     
necessity of sinning because others have
  done so before him2    ,that the      
domestic slave-trade is as repugnant to 
the laws of ,god1 and  should be as     
odious in the eyes of a ,christian      
community1 as the foreign2    ,that the 
black child born in a slave plantation  
is not an entailed  article of property2
 and that the white man who makes of    
that child a  slave is a thief and a    
robber1 stealing the child as the sea   
pirate stole  his father6    ,we do not 
talk of gradual abolition1 because1 as  
,christians1 we find no  authority for  
advocating a gradual relinquishment of  
sin4  ,we say to  slaveholders1 ,repent 

now1 to-day1 immediately2 just as we say
 to the  intemperate1 ,break off from   
your vice at once2 touch not1 taste not1
  handle not1 from henceforth forever4  
,besides1 the plan of gradual abolition 
has been tried in this country and  the 
,west ,indies1 and found wanting4  ,it  
has been in operation in our  slave     
states ever since the ,declaration of   
,independence1 and its results  are     
before the nation4  ,let us see4        
,,the ,,abolitionists  #gi    ,in #agij 
there were in the slave states south of 
the ,potomac and the ,ohio  #bj1dae free
 blacks4  ,their increase for the ten   
years following was at  the rate of     
sixty per cent41 their number in #ahjj  
being #cb1fjd4  ,in #ahaj  there were   
#eh1jdf1 an increase of seventy-five per
 cent4  ,this  comparatively large      
increase was1 in a great measure1 owing 
to the free  discussions going on in    
,england and in this country on the     
subject of the  slave-trade and the     
rights of man4  ,the benevolent impulse 

extended to  the slave-masters1 and     
manumissions were frequent4  ,but the   
salutary  impression died away2 the hand
 of oppression closed again upon its    
victims2 and the increase for the period
 of twenty years1 #ahaj to #ahcj1  was  
only seventy-seven per cent41 about one 
half of what it was in the  ten years   
from #ahjj to #ahaj4  ,and this is the  
practical result of the  much-lauded    
plan of gradual abolition4    ,in #agij1
 in the states above mentioned1 there   
were only #eej1fjd slaves1  but in #ahcj
 there were #a1hgd1jih6  ,and this1 too1
 is gradual abolition4    ,what1 then6  
perhaps you will ask1 do you expect to  
overthrow our whole  slave system at    
once8 to turn loose to-day two millions 
of negroes8    ,no1 gentlemen2 we expect
 no such thing4  ,enough for us if in   
the spirit  of fraternal duty we point  
to your notice the commands of ,god2 if 
we urge  you by every cherished         
remembrance of common sacrifices upon a 
common  altar1 by every consideration of

 humanity1 justice1 and expediency1 to  
begin now1 without a moment's delay1 to 
break away from your miserable          
system1--to begin the work of moral     
reformation1 as ,god commands you to    
begin1 not as selfishness1 or worldly   
policy1 or short-sighted political      
expediency1 may chance to dictate4      
,such is our doctrine of immediate      
emancipation4  ,a doctrine founded on   
,god's eternal truth1 plain1 simple1 and
 perfect1--the doctrine of  immediate1  
unprocrastinated repentance applied to  
the sin of slavery4    ,of this         
doctrine1 and of our plan for crrrying  
it into effect1 ,i have  given an       
exposition1 with the most earnest regard
 to the truth4  ,does  either embrace   
anything false1 fanatical1 or           
unconstitutional8  ,do they  afford a   
reasonable protext for your fierce      
denunciations of your  ,northern        
brethren8  ,do they furnish occasion for
 your newspaper chivalry1  your         
stereotyped demonstrations of ,southern 

magnanimity and ,yankee                 
meanness8--things1 let me say1 unworthy 
of ,virginians1 degrading to            
yourselves1 insulting to us4            
,gentlemen1 it is too late for          
,virginia1 with all her lofty intellect 
and  nobility of feeling1 to defend and 
advocate the principle of slavery4  ,the
 death-like silence which for nearly two
 centuries brooded over her  execrable  
system has been broken2 light is pouring
 in upon the minds of  her citizens2    
truth is abroad1 searching out and      
overturning the lies of  the age4  ,a   
moral reformation has been already      
awakened1 and it cannot  now be drugged 
to sleep by the sophistries of detected 
sin4  ,a thousand  intelligences are at 
work in her land2 a thousand of her     
noblest hearts  are glowing with the    
redeeming spirit of that true           
philanthropy1 which is  moving all the  
world4  ,no1 gentlemen2 light is        
spreading from the hills  of ,western   
,virginia to the extremest ,east4  ,you 

cannot arrest its  progress4  ,it is    
searching the consciences2 it is        
exercising the reason2  it is appealing 
to the noblest characteristics of       
intelligent ,virginians4  ,it is no     
foreign influence4  ,from every         
abandoned plantation where the          
profitless fern and thistle have sprung 
up under the heel of slavery2  from     
every falling mansion of the master1    
through whose windows the fox  may look 
out securely1 and over whose            
hearth-stone the thin grass is          
creeping1 a warning voice is sinking    
deeply into all hearts not imbruted  by 
avarice1 indolence1 and the lust of     
power4    ,abolitionist as ,i am1 the   
intellectual character of ,virginia has 
no  warmer admirer than myself4  ,her   
great names1 her moral trophies1 the    
glories of her early day1 the still     
proud and living testimonials of her    
mental power1 ,i freely acknowledge and 
strongly appreciate4  ,and1 believe  me1
 it is with no other feelings than those

 of regret and heartfelt  sorrow that ,i
 speak plainly of her great error1 her  
giant crime1 a crime  which is visibly  
calling down upon her the curse of an   
offended ,deity4  ,but ,i cannot forget 
that upon some of the most influential  
and highly  favored of her sons rests   
the responsibility at the present time  
of  sustaining this fearful iniquity4   
,blind to the signs of the times1       
careless of the wishes of thousands of  
their white fellow-citizens and of  the 
manifold wrongs of the black man1 they  
have dared to excuse1 defend1  nay1     
eulogize1 the black abominations of     
slavery4    ,against the tottering ark  
of the idol these strong men have placed
 their  shoulders4  ,that ark must fall2
 that idol must be cast down2 what1     
then1  will be the fate of their        
supporters8    ,when the ,convention of 
#ahbi had gathered in its splendid      
galaxy of  talents the great names of   
,virginia1 the friends of civil liberty 
turned  their eyes towards it in the    

earnest hope and confidence that it     
would  adopt some measures in regard to 
slavery worthy of the high character of 
its members and of the age in which they
 lived4  ,i need not say how deep  and  
bitter was our disappointment4  ,western
 ,virginia indeed spoke on that         
occasion1 through some of her delegates1
 the words of truth and humanity4  ,but 
their counsels and warnings were        
unavailing2 the majority turned away  to
 listen to the bewildering eloquence of 
,leigh and ,upshur and ,randolph1  as   
they desecrated their great intellects  
to the defence of that system  of       
oppression under which the whole land is
 groaning4  ,the memorial of  the       
citizens of ,augusta ,county1 bearing   
the signatures of many slave-  holders1 
placed the evils of slavery in a strong 
light before the  convention4  ,its     
facts and arguments could only be       
arbitrarily thrust  aside and wantonly  
disregarded2 they could not be          
disproved4    ,in a political point of  

view1 says the memorial1 we esteem      
slavery an  evil greater than the       
aggregate of all the other evils which  
beset us1  and we are perfectly willing 
to bear our proportion of the burden of 
removing it4  ,we ask1 further1 ,what is
 the evil of any such alarm as our      
proposition may excite in minds         
unnecessarily jealous compared with that
  of the fatal catastrophe which        
ultimately awaits our country1 and the  
general depravation of manners which    
slavery has already produced and is     
producing8    ,i cannot forbear giving  
one more extract from this paper4  ,the 
memorialists state their belief    ,that
 the labor of slaves is vastly less     
productive than that of freemen2  that  
it therefore requires a larger space to 
furnish subsistence for a  given number 
of the former than of the latter2 that  
the employment of the  former           
necessarily excludes that of the latter2
 that hence our  population1 white and  
black1 averages seventeen1 when it      

ought1 and would  under other           
circumstances1 average1 as in ,new      
,england1 at least sixty to  a square   
mile2 that the possession and management
 of slaves form a source  of endless    
vexation and misery in the house1 and of
 waste and ruin on the  farm2 that the  
youth of the country are growing up with
 a contempt of  steady industry as a low
 and servile thing1 which contempt      
induces  idleness and all its attendant 
effeminacy1 vice1 and worthlessness2    
that  the waste of the products of the  
land1 nay1 of the land itself1 is       
bringing poverty on all its inhabitants2
 that this poverty and the  sparseness  
of population either prevent the        
institution of schools  throughout the  
country1 or keep them in a most languid 
and inefficient  condition2 and that the
 same causes most obviously paralyze all
 our  schemes and efforts for the useful
 improvement of the country4            
,gentlemen1 you have only to look around
 you to know that this picture has  been

 drawn with the pencil of truth4  ,what 
has made desolate and sterile  one of   
the loveliest regions of the whole      
earth8  ,what mean the signs of         
wasteful neglect1 of long improvidence  
around you3 the half-finished  mansion  
already falling into decay1 the         
broken-down enclosures1 the weed-  grown
 garden the slave hut open to the       
elements1 the hillsides galled and      
naked1 the fields below them run over   
with brier and fern8  ,is all this  in  
the ordinary course of nature8  ,has man
 husbanded well the good gifts  of ,god1
 and are they nevertheless passing from 
him1 by a process of  deterioration over
 which he has no control8  ,no1         
gentlemen4  ,for more  than two         
centuries the cold and rocky soil of    
,new ,england has yielded its  annual   
tribute1 and it still lies green and    
luxuriant beneath the sun of  our brief 
summer4  ,the nerved and ever-exercised 
arm of free labor has  changed a        
landscape wild and savage as the night  

scenery of ,salvator ,rosa  into one of 
pastoral beauty1--the abode of          
independence and happiness4  ,under a   
similar system of economy and industry1 
how would ,virginia1 rich  with         
,nature's prodigal blessings1 have worn 
at this time over all her  territory the
 smiles of plenty1 the charms of        
rewarded industry6  ,what a  change     
would have been manifest in your whole  
character6  ,freemen in the  place of   
slaves1 industry1 reputable  economy1 a 
virtue1 dissipation  despised1          
emigration unnecessary6         ,a late 
,virginia member of ,congress described 
the ,virginia slave-       holder as    
follows3 ,he is an ,eastern ,virginian  
whose good fortune it       has been to 
have been born wealthy1 and to have     
become a profound       politician at   
twenty-one without study or labor4      
,this individual1       from birth and  
habit1 is above all labor and exertion4 
,he never       moves a finger for any  
useful purpose2 he lives on the labor of

 his       slaves1 and even this labor  
he is too proud and indolent to direct  
in person4  ,while he is at his ease1 a 
mercenary with a whip in his       hand 
drives his slaves in the field4  ,their 
dinner1 consisting of a       few scraps
 and lean bones1 is eaten in the burning
 sun4  ,they have       no time to go to
 a shade and be refreshed such easement 
is reserved       for the               
horses6--,speech of ,hon4 ,p4 ,p4       
,doddridge in ,house of                 
,delegates1 #ahbi4    ,all this1 you    
will say1 comes too late2 the curse is  
upon you1 the evil  in the vitals of    
your state1 the desolation widening day 
by day4  ,no1 it  is not too late4      
,there are elements in the ,virginian   
character capable  of meeting the       
danger1 extreme as it is1 and turning it
 aside4  ,could you  but forget for a   
time partisan contest and unprofitable  
political  speculations1 you might      
successfully meet the dangerous         
exigencies of  your state with those    

efficient remedies which the spirit of  
the age  suggests2 you might1 and that  
too without pecuniary loss1 relinquish  
your  claims to human beings as slaves1 
and employ them as free laborers1 under 
such restraint and supervision as their 
present degraded condition may  render  
necessary4  ,in the language of one of  
your own citizens1 it is  useless for   
you to attempt to linger on the skirts  
of the age which is  departed4  ,the    
action of existing causes and principles
 is steady and  progressive4  ,it cannot
 be retarded1 unless you would blow out 
all the  moral lights around you2 and if
 you refuse to keep up with it1 you will
  be towed in the wake1 whether you will
 or not4--,speech in ,virginia          
legislature1 #ahcb4    ,the late noble  
example of the eloquent statesman of    
,roanoke1 the  manumission of his       
slaves1 speaks volumes to his political 
friends4  ,in  the last hour of         
existence1 when his soul was struggling 
from his broken  tenement1 his latest   

effort was the confirmation of this     
generous act of  a former period4       
,light rest the turf upon him beneath   
his own  patrimonial oaks6  ,the prayers
 of many hearts made happy by his       
benevolence shall linger over his grave 
and bless it4    ,gentlemen1 in         
concluding these letters1 let me once   
more assure you that  ,i entertain      
towards you and your political friends  
none other than kindly  feelings4  ,if  
,i have spoken at all with apparent     
harshness1 it has been  of principles   
rather than of men4  ,but ,i deprecate  
no censure4  ,conscious  of the honest  
and patriotic motives which have        
prompted their avowal1 ,i  cheerfully   
leave my sentiments to their fate4      
,despised and contemned as  they may be1
 ,i believe they cannot be gainsaid4    
,sustained by the truth  as it exists in
 ,nature and ,revelation1 sanctioned by 
the prevailing  spirit of the age1 they 
are yet destined to work out the        
political and  moral regeneration of our

 country4  ,the opposition which they   
meet with  does not dishearten me4  ,in 
the lofty confidence of ,john ,milton1  
,i  believe that though all the winds of
 doctrine be let loose upon the  earth1 
so ,truth be among them1 we need not    
fear4  ,let her and ,falsehood  grapple2
 whoever knew her to be put to the worst
 in a free and open  encounter8         
,,haverhill1 ,,mass41 #bith of #gth     
,mo41 #ahcc4                            
,,letter ,,to ,,samuel ,e4 ,,sewall4    
,,haverhill1 #ajth of #ast ,mo41 #ahcd4 
,,samuel ,e4 ,,sewall1 ,,esq41          
,secretary ,new ,england ,a4 ,s4        
,society    ,,dear ,,friend1--,i regret 
that circumstances beyond my control    
will not  allow of my attendance at the 
annual meeting of the ,new ,england     
,anti-  ,slavery ,society4    ,i need   
not say to the members of that society  
that ,i am with them1 heart  and soul1  
in the cause of abolition2 the abolition
 not of physical  slavery alone1        
abhorrent and monstrous as it is1 but of

 that intellectual  slavery1 the bondage
 of corrupt and mistaken opinion1 which 
has fettered  as with iron the moral    
energies and intellectual strength of   
,new ,england4    ,for what is slavery1 
after all1 but fear1--fear1 forcing mind
 and body  into unnatural action8  ,and 
it matters little whether it be the     
terror of  the slave-whip on the body1  
or of the scourge of popular opinion    
upon the  inner man4    ,we all know how
 often the representatives of the       
,southern division of the  country have 
amused themselves in ,congress by       
applying the opprobrious  name of slave 
to the free ,northern laborer4  ,and how
 familiar have the  significant epithets
 of white slave and dough-face become6  
,i fear these epithets have not been    
wholly misapplied4  ,have we not been   
told here1 gravely and authoritatively1 
by some of our learned judges1  divines1
 and politicians1 that we1 the free     
people of ,new ,england1 have  no right 
to discuss the subject of slavery8      

,freemen1 and no right to  suggest the  
duty or the policy of a practical       
adherence to the doctrines  of that     
immortal declaration upon which our     
liberties are founded6  ,christians1    
enjoying perfect liberty of conscience1 
yet possessing no  right to breathe one 
whisper against a system of adultery and
 blood1  which is filling the whole land
 with abomination and blasphemy6  ,and  
this  craven sentiment is echoed by the 
very men whose industry is taxed to     
defray the expenses of twenty-five      
representatives of property1 vested in  
beings fashioned in the awful image of  
their ,maker2 by men whose hard         
earnings aid in supporting a standing   
army mainly for the protection of       
slaveholding indolence2 by men who are  
liable at any moment to be called  from 
the field and workshop to put down by   
force the ever upward  tendencies of    
oppressed humanity1 to aid the          
negro-breeder and the negro-  trader in 
the prosecution of a traffic most       

horrible in the eye of ,god1  to wall   
round with their bayonets two millions  
of colored ,americans1  children of a   
common ,father and heirs of a common    
eternity1 while the  broken chain is    
riveted anew and the thrown-off fetter  
replaced4    ,i am for the abolition of 
this kind of slavery4  ,it must be      
accomplished  before we can hope to     
abolish the negro slavery of the        
country4  ,the  people of the free      
states1 with a perfect understanding of 
their own  rights and a sacred respect  
for the rights of others1 must put their
  strong shoulders to the work of moral 
reform1 and our statesmen1 orators1  and
 politicians will follow1 floating as   
they must with the tendency of  the     
current1 the mere indices of popular    
sentiment4  ,they cannot be  expected to
 lead in this matter4  ,they are but    
instruments in the hands  of the people 
for good or evil3--              ,a     
breath can make them1 as a breath has   
made4    ,be it our task to give tone   

and direction to these instruments2 to  
turn  the tide of popular feeling into  
the pure channels of justice2 to break  
up the sinful silence of the nation2 to 
bring the vaunted ,christianity of  our 
age and country to the test of truth2 to
 try the strength and purity  of our    
republicanism4  ,if the ,christianity we
 profess has not power to  pull down the
 strongholds of prejudice1 and overcome 
hate1 and melt the  heart of oppression1
 it is not of ,god4  ,if our            
republicanism is based on  other        
foundation than justice and humanity1   
let it fall forever4    ,no better      
evidence is needed of the suicidal      
policy of this nation than  the         
death-like silence on the subject of    
slavery which pervades its  public      
documents4  ,who that peruses the annual
 messages of the national  executive    
would1 from their perusal alone1        
conjecture that such an evil  as slavery
 had existence among us8  ,have the     
people reflected upon the  cause of this

 silence8  ,the evil has grown to be too
 monstrous to be  questioned4  ,its very
 magnitude has sealed the lips of the   
rulers4  ,uneasily1 and troubled with   
its dream of guilt1 the nation sleeps   
on4  ,the volcano is beneath4  ,god is  
above us4    ,at every step of our      
peaceful and legal agitation of this    
subject we are  met with one grave      
objection4  ,we are told that the system
 which we are  conscientiously opposing 
is recognized and protected by the      
,constitution4  ,for all the benefits of
 our fathers' patriotism--and they are  
neither few  nor trifling--let us be    
grateful to ,god and to their memories4 
,but it  should not be forgotten that   
the same constitutional compact which   
now  sanctions slavery guaranteed       
protection for twenty years to the      
foreign  slave-trade4  ,it threw the    
shield of its sanctity around the now   
universally branded pirate4  ,it        
legalized the most abhorrent system of  
robbery which ever cursed the family of 

man4    ,during those years of sinful   
compromise the crime of man-robbery less
  atrocious than at present8  ,because  
the ,constitution permitted1 in that    
single crime1 the violation of all the  
commandments of ,god1 was that          
violation less terrible to earth or     
offensive to heaven8    ,no one now     
defends that constitutional slavetrade4 
,loaded with the  curse of ,god and man1
 it stands amidst minor iniquities1 like
 ,satan in  ,pandemonium1 preeminent and
 monstrous in crime4    ,and if the     
slave-trade has become thus odious1 what
 must be the fate1  erelong1 of its     
parent1 slavery8  ,if the mere          
consequence be thus  blackening under   
the execration of all the world1 who    
shall measure the  dreadful amount of   
infamy which must finally settle on the 
cause itself8  ,the titled ecclesiastic 
and the ambitious statesman should have 
their  warning on this point4  ,they    
should know that public opinion is      
steadily  turning to the light of truth4

  ,the fountains are breaking up around 
us1  and the great deep will soon be in 
motion4  ,a stern1 uncompromising1 and  
solemn spirit of inquiry is abroad4  ,it
 cannot be arrested1 and its  result may
 be easily foreseen4  ,it will not long 
be popular to talk of  the legality of  
soul-murder1 the constitutionality of   
man-robbery4    ,one word in relation to
 our duty to our ,southern brethren4    
,if we detest  their system of slavery  
in our hearts1 let us not play the      
hypocrite with  our lips4  ,let us not  
pay so poor a compliment to their       
understandings as  to suppose that we   
can deceive them into a compliance with 
our views of  justice by ambiguous      
sophistry1 and overcome their sinful    
practices and  established prejudices by
 miserable stratagem4  ,let us not first
 do  violence to our consciences by     
admitting their moral right to property 
in  man1 and then go to work like so    
many vagabond pedlers to cheat them out 
of it4  ,they have a right to complain  

of such treatment4  ,it is mean1 and    
wicked1 and dishonorable4  ,let us      
rather treat our ,southern friends as   
intelligent and high-minded men1 who1   
whatever may be their faults1  despise  
unmanly artifice1 and loathe cant1 and  
abhor hypocrisy4  ,connected with them1 
not by political ties alone1 but by     
common  sacrifices and mutual benefits1 
let us seek to expostulate with them    
earnestly and openly1 to gain at least  
their confidence in our sincerity1  to  
appeal to their consciences1 reason1 and
 interests2 and1 using no  other weapons
 than those of moral truth1 contend     
fearlessly with the evil  system they   
are cherishing4  ,and if1 in an         
immediate compliance with the  strict   
demands of justice1 they should need our
 aid and sympathy1 let us  open to them 
our hearts and our purses4  ,but in the 
name of sincerity1  and for the love of 
peace and the harmony of the ,union1 let
 there be no  more mining and           
countermining1 no more blending of      

apology with  denunciation1 no more     
,janus-like systems of reform1 with one 
face for the  ,south and another for the
 ,north4    ,if we steadily adhere to   
the principles upon which we have       
heretofore  acted1 if we present our    
naked hearts to the view of all1 if we  
meet the  threats and violence of our   
misguided enemies with the bare bosom   
and  weaponless hand of innocence1 may  
we not trust that the arm of our        
,heavenly ,father will be under us1 to  
strengthen and support us8  ,and        
although we may not be able to save our 
country from the awful judgment  she is 
provoking1 though the pillars of the    
,union fall and all the  elements of her
 greatness perish1 still let it be our  
part to rally  around the standard of   
truth and justice1 to wash our hands of 
evil1 to  keep our own souls unspotted1 
and1 bearing our testimony and lifting  
our  warning voices to the last1 leave  
the event in the hands of a righteous   
,god4                                   

,,john ,,quincy ,,adams4         ,in    
#ahcg ,isaac ,knapp printed ,letters    
from ,john ,quincy ,adams to his        
,constituents of the ,twelfth           
,congressional ,district in             
,massachusetts1       to which is added 
his ,speech in ,congress1 delivered     
,february #i1       #ahcg1 and the      
following stood as an introduction to   
the pamphlet4    ,,the following letters
 have been published1 within a few      
weeks1 in the  ,quincy 7,mass47         
',patriot'4  ,notwithstanding the great 
importance of the  subjects which they  
discuss1 the intense interest which they
 are  calculated to awaken throughout   
this commonwealth and the whole country1
  and the exalted reputation of their   
author as a profound statesman and      
powerful writer1 they are as yet hardly 
known beyond the limits of the          
constituency to whom they are           
particularly addressed4  ,the reason of 
this  is sufficiently obvious4  ,john   
,quincy ,adams belongs to neither of the

  prominent political parties1 fights no
 partisan battles1 and cannot be        
prevailed upon to sacrifice truth and   
principle upon the altar of party       
expediency and interest4  ,hence neither
 party is interested in defending  his  
course1 or in giving him an opportunity 
to defend himself4  ,but  however       
systematic may be the efforts of mere   
partisan presses to  suppress and hold  
back from the public eye the powerful   
and triumphant  vindication of the      
,right of ,petition1 the graphic        
delineation of the  slavery spirit in   
,congress1 and the humbling disclosure  
of ,northern  cowardice and treachery1  
contained in these letters1 they are    
destined to  exert a powerful influence 
upon the public mind4  ,they will       
constitute  one of the most striking    
pages in the history of our times4      
,they will be  read with avidity in the 
,north and in the ,south1 and throughout
 ,europe4  ,apart from the interest     
excited by the subjects under           

discussion1 and  viewed only as literary
 productions1 they may be ranked among  
the highest  intellectual efforts of    
their author4  ,their sarcasm is        
,junius-like1--  cold1 keen1 unsparing4 
,in boldness1 directness1 and eloquent  
appeal1  they will bear comparison with 
,o',connell's celebrated ',letters to   
the  ,reformers of ,great ,britain'4    
,they are the offspring of an intellect 
unshorn of its primal strength1 and     
combining the ardor of youth with the   
experience of age4    ,the disclosure   
made in these letters of the slavery    
influence exerted in  ,congress over the
 representatives of the free states1 of 
the manner in  which the rights of      
freemen have been bartered for ,southern
 votes1 or  basely yielded to the       
threats of men educated in despotism1   
and stamped  by the free indulgence of  
unrestrained tyranny with the odious    
peculiarities of slavery1 is painful and
 humiliating in the extreme4  ,it  will 
be seen that1 in the great struggle for 

and against the ,right of  ,petition1 an
 account of which is given in the       
following pages1 their  author stood1 in
 a great measure1 alone and unsupported 
by his ,northern  colleagues4  ,on his  
gray1 discrowned head the entire fury of
 slave-  holding arrogance and wrath was
 expended4  ,he stood alone1 beating    
back1  with his aged and single arm1 the
 tide which would have borne down and   
overwhelmed a less sturdy and determined
 spirit4    ,we need not solicit for    
these letters1 and the speech which     
accompanies  them1 a thorough perusal4  
,they deserve1 and we trust will        
receive1 a  circulation throughout the  
entire country4  ,they will meet a      
cordial  welcome from every lover of    
human liberty1 from every friend of     
justice  and the rights of man1         
irrespective of color or condition4     
,the  principles which they defend1 the 
sentiments which they express1 are      
those of ,massachusetts1 as recently    
asserted1 almost unanimously1 by her    

legislature4  ,in both branches of that 
body1 during the discussion of the      
subject of slavery and the right of     
petition1 the course of the ex-         
,president was warmly and eloquently    
commended4  ,massachusetts will  sustain
 her tried and faithful representative2 
and the time is not far  distant when   
the best and worthiest citizens of the  
entire ,north will  proffer him their   
thanks for his noble defence of their   
rights as  freemen1 and of the rights of
 the slave as a man4              ,,the 
,,bible ,,and ,,slavery4         ,from a
 review of a pro-slavery pamphlet by    
,evangelicus in the       ,boston       
,emancipator in #ahdc4    ,,the second  
part of the essay is occupied in proving
 that the slavery in  the ,roman world1 
at the time of our ,saviour1 was similar
 in all essential  features to ,american
 slavery at the present day2 and the    
third and  concluding part is devoted to
 an examination of the apostolical      
directions to slaves and masters1 as    

applicable to the same classes in  the  
,united ,states4  ,he thinks the command
 to give to servants that which  is just
 and equal means simply that the masters
 should treat their slaves  with equity1
 and that while the servant is to be    
profitable to the  master1 the latter is
 bound in a fair and equitable manner to
 provide  for the slave's subsistence   
and happiness4  ,although he professes  
to  believe that a faithful adherence to
 ,scriptural injunctions on this point  
would eventually terminate in the       
emancipation of the slaves1 he thinks   
it not necessary to inquire whether the 
,new ,testament does or does not        
tolerate slavery as a permanent         
institution6    ,from the foregoing     
synopsis it will be seen at once that   
whatever may  have been the motives of  
the writer1 the effect of his           
publication1 so  far as it is at all    
felt1 will be to strengthen the         
oppressor in his  guilt1 and hold him   
back from the performance of his        

immediate duty in  respect to his       
slaves1 and to shield his conscience    
from the reproofs of  that class who1   
according to ,evangelicus1 have no      
personal  acquaintance with the actual  
domestic state or the social and        
political  connections of their         
,southern fellow-citizens4  ,we look    
upon it only as  another vain attempt to
 strike a balance between ,christian    
duty and  criminal policy1 to reconcile 
,christ and ,belial1 the holy           
philanthropy of  ,him who went about    
doing good with the most abhorrent      
manifestation of  human selfishness1    
lust1 and hatred which ever provoked the
 divine  displeasure4  ,there is a      
grave-stone coldness about it4  ,the    
author  manifests as little feeling as  
if he were solving a question in        
algebra4  ,no sigh of sympathy breathes 
through its frozen pages for the dumb1  
chained millions1 no evidence of a      
feeling akin to that of ,him who at the 
grave of ,lazarus              ,wept1   

and forgot ,his power to save2    no    
outburst of that indignant reproof with 
which the ,divine ,master  rebuked the  
devourers of widows' houses and the     
oppressors of the poor is  called forth 
by the writer's stoical contemplation of
 the tyranny of his  ,christian brethren
 at the ,south4    ,it is not necessary1
 says ,evangelicus1 to inquire whether  
the ,new  ,testament does not tolerate  
slavery as a permanent institution4     
,and  this is said when the entire      
slave-holding church has sheltered its  
abominations under the pretended        
sanction of the gospel2 when slavery1   
including within itself a violation of  
every command uttered amidst the        
thunders of ,sinai1 a system which has  
filled the whole ,south with the        
oppression of ,egypt and the pollutions 
of ,sodom1 is declared to be an         
institution of the ,most ,high4  ,with  
all due deference to the author1 we     
tell him1 and we tell the church1 ,north
 and ,south1 that this question  must be

 met4  ,once more we repeat the solemn  
inquiry which has been  already made in 
our columns1 ,is the ,bible to enslave  
the world8  ,has it  been but a vain    
dream of ours that the mission of the   
,author of the  gospel was to undo the  
heavy burdens1 to open the prison doors1
 and to  break the yoke of the captive8 
,let ,andover and ,princeton answer4    
,if the  gospel does sanction the vilest
 wrong which man can inflict upon his   
fellow-man1 if it does rivet the chains 
which humanity1 left to itself1  would  
otherwise cast off1 then1 in humanity's 
name1 let it perish forever  from the   
face of the earth4  ,let the ,bible     
societies dissolve2 let not  another    
sheet issue from their presses4         
,scatter not its leaves abroad  over the
 dark places of the earth2 they are not 
for the healing of the  nations4  ,leave
 rather to the ,persian his ,zendavesta1
 to the ,mussulman  his ,koran4  ,we    
repeat it1 this question must be met4   
,already we have  heard infidelity      

exulting over the astute discoveries of 
bespectacled  theological professors1   
that the great ,head of the ,christian  
,church  tolerated the horrible         
atrocities of ,roman slavery1 and that  
,his most  favored apostle combined     
slave-catching with his missionary      
labors4  ,and  why should it not exult8 
,fouler blasphemy than this was never   
uttered4  ,a more monstrous libel upon  
the ,divine ,author of ,christianity was
 never  propagated by ,paine or         
,voltaire1 ,kneeland or ,owen2 and we   
are constrained  to regard the professor
 of theology or the doctor of divinity  
who tasks  his sophistry and learning in
 an attempt to show that the ,divine    
,mind  looks with complacency upon      
chattel slavery as the most dangerous   
enemy  with which ,christianity has to  
contend4  ,the friends of pure and      
undefiled religion must awake to this   
danger4  ,the ,northern church must     
shake itself clean from its present     
connection with blasphemers and         

slave-holders1 or perish with them4     
,,what ,,is ,,slavery                   
,addressed to the ,liberty ,party       
,convention at ,new ,bedford in         
,september1 #ahdc4    ,i ,,have just    
received your kind invitation to attend 
the meeting of the  ,liberty ,party in  
,new ,bedford on the #b;d of next month4
  ,believe me1 it is  with no ordinary  
feelings of regret that ,i find myself  
under the  necessity of foregoing the   
pleasure of meeting with you on that    
occasion4  ,but ,i need not say to you1 
and through you to the convention1 that 
you  have my hearty sympathy4    ,i am  
with the ,liberty ,party because it is  
the only party in the country  which is 
striving openly and honestly to reduce  
to practice the great  truths which lie 
at the foundation of our republic3 all  
men created  equal1 endowed with rights 
inalienable2 the security of these      
rights the  only just object of         
government2 the right of the people to  
alter or  modify government until this  

great object is attained4  ,precious and
  glorious truths6  ,sacred in the sight
 of their ,divine ,author1 grateful  and
 beneficent to suffering humanity1      
essential elements of that ultimate  and
 universal government of which ,god is  
laying the strong and wide  foundations1
 turning and overturning1 until ,he     
whose right it is shall  rule4  ,the    
voice which calls upon us to sustain    
them is the voice of ,god4  ,in the     
eloquent language of the lamented ,myron
 ,holley1 the man who first  lifted up  
the standard of the ,liberty ,party3 ,he
 calls upon us to sustain  these truths 
in the recorded voice of the holy of    
ancient times4  ,he  calls us to sustain
 them in the sound as of many waters and
 mighty  thunderings rising from the    
fields of ,europe1 converted into one   
vast  ,aceldama by the exertions of     
despots to suppress them2 in the        
persuasive  history of the best thoughts
 and boldest deeds of all our brave1    
self-  sacrificing ancestors2 in the    

tender1 heart-reaching whispers of our  
children1 preparing to suffer or enjoy  
the future1 as we leave it for  them2 in
 the broken and disordered but moving   
accents of half our race  yet groping in
 darkness and galled by the chains of   
bondage4  ,he calls  upon us to sustain 
them by the solemn and considerate use  
of all the  powers with which ,he has   
invested us4  ,in a time of almost      
universal  political scepticism1 in the 
midst of a pervading and growing        
unbelief in  the great principles       
enunciated in the revolutionary         
declaration1 the  ,liberty ,party has   
dared to avow its belief in these       
truths1 and to carry  them into action  
as far as it has the power4  ,it is a   
protest against the  political          
infidelity of the day1 a recurrence to  
first principles1 a  summons once more  
to that deserted altar upon which our   
fathers laid  their offerings4    ,it   
may be asked why it is that a party     
resting upon such broad principles  is  

directing its exclusive exertions       
against slavery4  ,are there not  other 
great interests8 ask all manner of ,whig
 and ,democrat editors and  politicians4
  ,consider1 for instance1 say the      
,democrats1 the mighty  question which  
is agitating us1 whether a ',northern   
man with ,southern  principles' or a    
,southern man with the principles of a  
,nero or ,caligula  shall be ,president4
  ,or look at us1 say the ,whigs1       
deprived of our  inalienable right to   
office by this ,tyler-,calhoun          
administration4  ,and  bethink you1     
gentlemen1 how could your ,liberty      
,party do better than to  vote with us  
for a man who1 if he does hold some     
threescore of slaves1  and maintain that
 'two hundred years of legislation has  
sanctioned and  sanctified negro        
slavery1' is1 at the same time1 the     
champion of ,greek  liberty1 and ,polish
 liberty1 and ,south ,american liberty1 
and1 in short1  of all sorts of         
liberties1 save liberty at home4        

,yes1 friends1 we have considered all   
this1 and more1 namely1 that one  sixth 
part of our entire population are       
slaves1 and that you1 with your         
subtreasuries and national banks1       
propose no relief for them4  ,nay1      
farther1 it is because both of you1 when
 in power1 have used your  authority to 
rivet closer the chains of unhappy      
millions1 that we have  been compelled  
to abandon you1 and form a liberty party
 having for its  first object the       
breaking of these chains4    ,what is   
slavery8  ,for upon the answer to this  
question must the ,liberty  ,party      
depend for its justification4    ,the   
slave laws of the ,south tell us that it
 is the conversion of men into  articles
 of property2 the transformation of     
sentient immortal beings into  chattels 
personal4  ,the principle of a          
reciprocity of benefits1 which  to some 
extent characterizes all other          
relations1 does not exist in that  of   
master and slave4  ,the master holds the

 plough which turns the soil of  his    
plantation1 the horse which draws it1   
and the slave who guides it by  one and 
the same tenure4  ,the profit of the    
master is the great end of  the slave's 
existence4  ,for this end he is fed1    
clothed1 and prescribed  for in         
sickness4  ,he learns nothing1 acquires 
nothing1 for himself4  ,he  cannot use  
his own body for his own benefit4  ,his 
very personality is  destroyed4  ,he is 
a mere instrument1 a means in the hands 
of another for  the accomplishment of an
 end in which his own interests are not 
regarded1  a machine moved not by his   
own will1 but by another's4  ,in him the
 awful  distinction between a person and
 a thing is annihilated3 he is thrust   
down from the place which ,god and      
,nature assigned him1 from the equal    
companionship of rational               
intelligence's1--a man herded with      
beasts1 an  immortal nature classed with
 the wares of the merchant6    ,the     
relations of parent and child1 master   

and apprentice1 government and  subject1
 are based upon the principle of        
benevolence1 reciprocal  benefits1 and  
the wants of human society2 relations   
which sacredly  respect the rights and  
legacies which ,god has given to all    
,his rational  creatures4  ,but slavery 
exists only by annihilating or          
monopolizing these  rights and legacies4
  ,in every other modification of       
society1 man's  personal ownership      
remains secure4  ,he may be oppressed1  
deprived of  privileges1 loaded with    
burdens1 hemmed about with legal        
disabilities1  his liberties restrained4
  ,but1 through all1 the right to his   
own body  and soul remains inviolate4   
,he retains his inherent1 original      
possession  of himself4  ,even crime    
cannot forfeit it1 for that law which   
destroys  his personality makes void its
 own claims upon him as a moral agent2  
and  the power to punish ceases with the
 accountability of the criminal4  ,he   
may suffer and die under the penalties  

of the law1 but he suffers as a  man1 he
 perishes as a man1 and not as a thing4 
,to the last moments of  his existence  
the rights of a moral agent are his2    
they go with him to  the grave2 they    
constitute the ground of his            
accountability at the bar of  infinite  
justice1--rights fixed1 eternal1        
inseparable2 attributes of all  rational
 intelligence in time and eternity2 the 
same in essence1 and  differing in      
degree only1 with those of the highest  
moral being1 of ,god  himself4          
,slavery alone lays its grasp upon the  
right of personal ownership1 that       
foundation right1 the removal of which  
uncreates the man2 a right which  ,god  
himself could not take away without     
absolving the being thus deprived  of   
all moral accountability2 and so far as 
that being is concerned1  making sin and
 holiness1 crime and virtue1 words      
without significance1  and the promises 
and sanctions of revelation1 dreams4    
,hence1 the  crowning horror of slavery1

 that which lifts it above all other    
iniquities1 is not that it usurps the   
prerogatives of ,deity1 but that it     
attempts that which even ,he who has    
said1 ,all souls are mine1 cannot  do1  
without breaking up the foundations of  
,his moral government4  ,slavery  is1 in
 fact1 a struggle with the ,almighty for
 dominion over ,his rational  creatures4
  ,it is leagued with the powers of     
darkness1 in wresting man  from his     
,maker4  ,it is blasphemy lifting brazen
 brow and violent hand to  heaven1      
attempting a reversal of ,god's laws4   
,man claiming the right to  uncreate his
 brother2 to undo that last and most    
glorious work1 which ,god  himself      
pronounced good1 amidst the rejoicing   
hosts of heaven6  ,man  arrogating to   
himself the right to change1 for his own
 selfish purposes1  the beautiful order 
of created existences2 to pluck the     
crown of an  immortal nature1 scarce    
lower than that of angels1 from the brow
 of his  brother2 to erase the ,god-like

 image and superscription stamped upon  
him  by the hand of his ,creator1 and to
 write on the despoiled and desecrated  
tablet1 ,a chattel personal6    ,this1  
then1 is slavery4  ,nature1 with her    
thousand voices1 cries out  against it4 
,against it1 divine revelation launches 
its thunders4  ,the  voice of ,god      
condemns it in the deep places of the   
human heart4  ,the woes  and wrongs     
unutterable which attend this dreadful  
violation of natural  justice1 the      
stripes1 the tortures1 the sunderings of
 kindred1 the  desolation of human      
affections1 the unchastity and lust1 the
 toil  uncompensated1 the abrogated     
marriage1 the legalized heathenism1 the 
burial of the mind1 are but the mere    
incidentals of the first grand  outrage1
 that seizure of the entire man1 nerve1 
sinew1 and spirit1 which  robs him of   
his body1 and ,god of his soul4  ,these 
are but the natural  results and outward
 demonstrations of slavery1 the         
crystallizations from  the chattel      

principle4    ,it is against this       
system1 in its active operation upon    
three millions of  our countrymen1 that 
the ,liberty ,party is1 for the present1
 directing all  its efforts4  ,with such
 an object well may we be men of one    
idea4  ,nor  do we neglect other great  
interests1 for all are colored and      
controlled  by slavery1 and the removal 
of this disastrous influence would most 
effectually benefit them4    ,political 
action is the result and immediate      
object of moral suasion on  this        
subject4  ,action1 action1 is the       
spirit's means of progress1 its  sole   
test of rectitude1 its only source of   
happiness4  ,and should not  decided    
action follow our deep convictions of   
the wrong of slavery8  ,shall we        
denounce the slave-holders of the       
states1 while we retain our  slavery in 
the ,district of ,columbia8  ,shall we  
pray that the ,god of the  oppressed    
will turn the hearts of the rulers in   
,south ,carolina1 while  we1 the rulers 

of the ,district1 refuse to open the    
prisons and break up  the slave-markets 
on its ten miles square8  ,god keep us  
from such  hypocrisy6  ,everybody now   
professes to be opposed to slavery4     
,the  leaders of the two great political
 parties are grievously concerned lest  
the purity of the antislavery enterprise
 will suffer in its connection  with    
politics4  ,in the midst of grossest    
pro-slavery action1 they are  full of   
anti-slavery sentiment4  ,they love the 
cause1 but1 on the whole1  think it too 
good for this world4  ,they would keep  
it sublimated1 aloft1  out of vulgar    
reach or use altogether1 intangible as  
,magellan's clouds4  ,everybody will    
join us in denouncing slavery1 in the   
abstract2 not a  faithless priest nor   
politician will oppose us2 abandon      
action1 and  forsooth we can have an    
abolition millennium2 the wolf shall lie
 down  with the lamb1 while slavery in  
practice clanks1 in derision1 its three 
millions of unbroken chains4  ,our      

opponents have no fear of the harmless  
spectre of an abstract idea4  ,they     
dread it only when it puts on the  flesh
 and sinews of a practical reality1 and 
lifts its right arm in the  strength    
which ,god giveth to do as well as      
theorize4    ,as honest men1 then1 we   
must needs act2 let us do so as becomes 
men  engaged in a great and solemn      
cause4  ,not by processions and idle    
parades  and spasmodic enthusiasms1 by  
shallow tricks and shows and artifices1 
can  a cause like ours be carried       
onward4  ,leave these to parties        
contending  for office1 as the spoils of
 victory4  ,we need no disguises1 nor   
false  pretences1 nor subterfuges2      
enough for us to present before our     
fellow-  countrymen the holy truths of  
freedom1 in their unadorned and native  
beauty4  ,dark as the present may seem1 
let us remember with hearty  confidence 
that truth and right are destined to    
triumph4  ,let us blot out  the word    
discouragement from the anti-slavery    

vocabulary4  ,let the  enemies of       
freedom be discouraged2 let the         
advocates of oppression  despair2 but   
let those who grapple with wrong and    
falsehood1 in the name  of ,god and in  
the power of ,his truth1 take courage4  
,slavery must die4  ,the ,lord hath     
spoken it4  ,the vials of ,his hot      
displeasure1 like those  which chastised
 the nations in the ,apocalyptic vision1
 are smoking even  now1 above its       
habitations of cruelty4  ,it can no     
longer be borne with  by ,heaven4       
,universal humanity cries out against   
it4  ,let us work1 then1  to hasten its 
downfall1 doing whatsoever our hands    
find to do1 with all  our might4        
,october1 #ahdc4                        
,,democracy ,,and ,,slavery4            
#ahdc4    ,,the great leader of         
,american ,democracy1 ,thomas           
,jefferson1 was an ultra-  abolitionist 
in theory1 while from youth to age a    
slave-holder in  practice4  ,with a zeal
 which never abated1 with a warmth which

 the frost  of years could not chill1 he
 urged the great truths1 that each man  
should  be the guardian of his own weal2
 that one man should never have absolute
  control over another4  ,he maintained 
the entire equality of the race1 the    
inherent right of self-ownership1 the   
equal claim of all to a fair            
participation in the enactment of the   
laws by which they are governed4    ,he 
saw clearly that slavery1 as it existed 
in the ,south and on his own            
plantation1 was inconsistent with this  
doctrine4  ,his early efforts for       
emancipation in ,virginia failed of     
success2 but he next turned his         
attention to the vast northwestern      
territory1 and laid the foundation of   
that ordinance of #aghg1 which1 like the
 flaming sword of the angel at the      
gates of ,paradise1 has effectually     
guarded that territory against the      
entrance of slavery4  ,nor did he stop  
here4  ,he was the friend and  admirer  
of the ultra-abolitionists of           

revolutionary ,france2 he warmly  urged 
his ,british friend1 ,dr4 ,price1 to    
send his anti-slavery pamphlets  into   
,virginia2 he omitted no opportunity to 
protest against slavery as              
anti-democratic1 unjust1 and dangerous  
to the common welfare2 and in his       
letter to the territorial governor of   
,illinois1 written in old age1 he       
bequeathed1 in earnest and affecting    
language1 the cause of negro            
emancipation to the rising generation4  
,this enterprise1 said he1 is  for the  
young1 for those who can carry it       
forward to its consummation4  ,it shall 
have all my prayers1 and these are the  
only weapons of an old  man4    ,such   
was ,thomas ,jefferson1 the great       
founder of ,american ,democracy1 the    
advocate of the equality of human       
rights1 irrespective of any conditions  
of birth1 or climate1 or color4  ,his   
political doctrines1 it is strange  to  
say1 found their earliest recipients and
 most zealous admirers in the  slave    

states of the ,union4  ,the privileged  
class of slaveholders1 whose  rank and  
station supersede the necessity of an   
order of nobility1  became earnest      
advocates of equality among             
themselves--the democracy of            
aristocracy4  ,with the misery and      
degradation of servitude always before  
them1 in the condition of their own     
slaves1 an intense love of personal     
independence1 and a haughty impatience  
of any control over their actions1      
prepared them to adopt the democratic   
idea1 so far as it might be applied  to 
their own order4  ,of that enlarged and 
generous democracy1 the love1  not of   
individual freedom alone1 but of the    
rights and liberties of all  men1 the   
unselfish desire to give to others the  
privileges which all men  value for     
themselves1 we are constrained to       
believe the great body of  ,thomas      
,jefferson's slave-holding admirers had 
no adequate conception4  ,they were just
 such democrats as the patricians of    

,rome and the  aristocracy of ,venice2  
lords over their own plantations1 a sort
 of holy  alliance of planters1         
admitting and defending each other's    
divine right  of mastership4    ,still1 
in ,virginia1 ,maryland1 and in other   
sections of the slave states1  truer    
exponents and exemplifiers of the idea  
of democracy1 as it existed  in the mind
 of ,jefferson1 were not wanting4  ,in  
the debate on the  memorials presented  
to the first ,congress of the ,united   
,states1 praying  for the abolition of  
slavery1 the voice of the ,virginia     
delegation in  that body was unanimous  
in deprecation of slavery as an evil1   
social1  moral1 and political4  ,in the 
,virginia constitutional convention--of 
#ahbi  there were men who had the wisdom
 to perceive and the firmness to declare
  that slavery was not only incompatible
 with the honor and prosperity of  the  
state1 but wholly indefensible on any   
grounds which could be  consistently    
taken by a republican people4  ,in the  

debate on the same  subject in the      
legislature in #ahcb1 universal and     
impartial democracy  found utterance    
from eloquent lips4  ,we might say as   
much of ,kentucky1  the child of        
,virginia4  ,but it remains true that   
these were exceptions to  the general   
rule4  ,with the language of universal  
liberty on their lips1  and moved by the
 most zealous spirit of democratic      
propagandism1 the  greater number of the
 slave-holders of the ,union seem never 
to have  understood the true meaning1 or
 to have measured the length and breadth
  of that doctrine which they were the  
first to adopt1 and of which they  have 
claimed all along to be the peculiar and
 chosen advocates4    ,the ,northern    
,states were slow to adopt the          
,democratic creed4  ,the  oligarchy of  
,new ,england1 and the rich proprietors 
and landholders of the  ,middle ,states1
 turned with alarm and horror from the  
levelling doctrines  urged upon them by 
the liberty and equality propagandists  

of the ,south4  ,the doctrines of       
,virginia were quite as unpalatable to  
,massachusetts at  the beginning of the 
present century as those of             
,massachusetts now are to  the ,old     
,dominion4  ,democracy interfered with  
old usages and time-honored             
institutions1 and threatened to plough  
up the very foundations of the  social  
fabric4  ,it was zealously opposed by   
the representatives of ,new  ,england in
 ,congress and in the home legislatures2
 and in many pulpits  hands were lifted 
to ,god in humble entreaty that the     
curse and bane of  democracy1 an        
offshoot of the rabid ,jacobinism of    
revolutionary ,france1  might not be    
permitted to take root and overshadow   
the goodly heritage of  ,puritanism4    
,the alarmists of the ,south1 in their  
most fervid pictures of  the evils to be
 apprehended from the prevalence of     
anti-slavery doctrines  in their midst1 
have drawn nothing more fearful than the
 visions of such              ,prophets 

of war and harbingers of ill    as      
,fisher ,ames in the forum and ,parish  
in the desk1 when contemplating  the    
inroads of ,jeffersonian democracy upon 
the politics1 religion1 and  property of
 the ,north4    ,but great numbers of   
the free laborers of the ,northern      
,states1 the  mechanics and small       
farmers1 took a very different view of  
the matter4  ,the doctrines of          
,jefferson were received as their       
political gospel4  ,it  was in vain that
 federalism denounced with indignation  
the impertinent  inconsistency of       
slave-holding interference in behalf of 
liberty in the  free states4  ,come the 
doctrine from whom it might1 the people 
felt it to  be true4  ,state after state
 revolted from the ranks of federalism1 
and  enrolled itself on the side of     
democracy4  ,the old order of things was
  broken up2 equality before the law was
 established1 religious tests and       
restrictions of the right of suffrage   
were abrogated4  ,take  ,massachusetts1 

for example4  ,there the resistance to  
democratic  principles was the most     
strenuous and longest continued4  ,yet1 
at this  time1 there is no state in the 
,union more thorough in its practical   
adoption of them4  ,no property         
qualifications or religious tests       
prevail2  all distinctions of sect1     
birth1 or color1 are repudiated1 and    
suffrage  is universal4  ,the democracy1
 which in the ,south has only been held 
in a  state of gaseous abstraction1     
hardened into concrete reality in the   
cold  air of the ,north4  ,the ideal    
became practical1 for it had found      
lodgment  among men who were accustomed 
to act out their convictions and test   
all  their theories by actual           
experience4    ,while thus making a     
practical application of the new        
doctrine1 the people  of the free states
 could not but perceive the incongruity 
of democracy  and slavery4    ,selleck  
,osborn1 who narrowly escaped the honor 
of a ,democratic martyr in              

,connecticut1 denounced slave-holding1  
in common with other forms of           
oppression4  ,barlow1 fresh from        
communion with ,gregoire1 ,brissot1 and 
,robespierre1 devoted to negro slavery  
some of the most vigorous and  truthful 
lines of his great poem4  ,eaton1       
returning from his romantic             
achievements in ,tunis for the          
deliverance of white slaves1 improved   
the  occasion to read a lecture to his  
countrymen on the inconsistency and     
guilt of holding blacks in servitude4   
,in the ,missouri struggle of #ahai-    
#bj1 the people of the free states1 with
 a few ignoble exceptions1 took  issue  
with the ,south against the extension of
 slavery4  ,some ten years  later1 the  
present antislavery agitation commenced4
  ,it originated1  beyond a question1 in
 the democratic element4  ,with the     
words of  ,jefferson on their lips1     
young1 earnest1 and enthusiastic men    
called the  attention of the community  
to the moral wrong and political        

reproach of  slavery4  ,in the name and 
spirit of democracy1 the moral and      
political  powers of the people were    
invoked to limit1 discountenance1 and   
put an  end to a system so manifestly   
subversive of its foundation principles4
  ,it was a revival of the language of  
,jefferson and ,page and ,randolph1 an  
echo of the voice of him who penned the 
,declaration of ,independence and       
originated the ordinance of #aghg4      
,meanwhile the ,south had wellnigh      
forgotten the actual significance of the
  teachings of its early political      
prophets1 and their renewal in the shape
  of abolitionism was1 as might have    
been expected1 strange and unwelcome4   
,pleasant enough it had been to hold up 
occasionally these democratic           
abstractions for the purpose of         
challenging the world's admiration and  
cheaply acquiring the character of      
lovers of liberty and equality4         
,frederick of ,prussia1 apostrophizing  
the shades of ,cato and ,brutus1        

,vous de la liberte heros que je revere1
    while in the full exercise of his   
despotic power1 was quite as consistent 
as these democratic slaveowners1 whose  
admiration of liberty increased in      
exact ratio with its distance from their
 own plantations4  ,they had not        
calculated upon seeing their doctrine   
clothed with life and power1 a          
practical reality1 pressing for         
application to their slaves as well as  
to  themselves4  ,they had not taken    
into account the beautiful ordination of
  ,providence1 that no man can vindicate
 his own rights1 without directly or    
impliedly including in that vindication 
the rights of all other men4  ,the      
haughty and oppressive barons who wrung 
from their reluctant monarch the  ,great
 ,charter at ,runnymede1 acting only for
 themselves and their class1  little    
dreamed of the universal application    
which has since been made of  their     
guaranty of rights and liberties4  ,as  
little did the nobles of the  parliament

 of ,paris1 when strengthening          
themselves by limiting the kingly       
prerogative1 dream of the emancipation  
of their own serfs1 by a  revolution to 
which they were blindly giving the first
 impulse4  ,god's  truth is universal2  
it cannot be monopolized by selfishness4
                                        
,,the ,,two ,,processions4              
#ahdd4                  ,look upon this 
picture1 and on this4  ,,hamlet4        
,,considering that we have a slave      
population of nearly three millions1 and
  that in one half of the states of the 
,republic it is more hazardous to  act  
upon the presumption that all men are   
created free and equal than  it would be
 in ,austria or ,russia1 the lavish     
expression of sympathy and  extravagant 
jubilation with which1 as a people1 we  
are accustomed to  greet movements in   
favor of freedom abroad are not a little
 remarkable4  ,we almost went into      
ecstasies over the first ,french        
revolution2 we filled  our papers with  

the speeches of orator ,hunt and the    
,english radicals2 we  fraternized with 
the ,united ,irishmen2 we hailed as     
brothers in the cause  of freedom the   
very ,mexicans whom we have since wasted
 with fire and  sword2 our orators1     
,north and ,south1 grew eloquent and    
classic over the  ,greek and ,polish    
revolutions4  ,in short1 long ere this1 
if the walls of  kingcraft and despotism
 had been1 like those of ,jericho1      
destined to be  overthrown by sound1 our
 ,fourth of ,july cannon-shootings and  
bell-  ringings1 together with our      
fierce1 grandiloquent speech-makings in 
and  out of ,congress1 on the occasions 
referred to1 would have left no stone   
upon another4    ,it is true that an    
exception must be made in the case of   
,hayti4  ,we fired  no guns1 drank no   
toasts1 made no speeches in favor of the
 establishment  of that new republic in 
our neighborhood4  ,the very mention of 
the  possibility that ,haytien delegates
 might ask admittance to the congress   

of the free republics of the ,new ,world
 at ,panama frightened from their       
propriety the eager propagandists of    
republicanism in the ,senate1 and  gave 
a death-blow to their philanthropic     
projects4  ,but as ,hayti is a  republic
 of blacks who1 having revolted from    
their masters as well as  from the      
mother country1 have placed themselves  
entirely without the pale  of           
,anglo-,saxon sympathy by their         
impertinent interference with the       
monopoly of white liberty1 this         
exception by no means disproves the     
general fact1 that in the matter of     
powder-burning1 bell-jangling1          
speech-making1 toast-drinking admiration
 of freedom afar off and in the         
abstract we have no rivals4  ,the       
caricature of our general sympathizers  
in ,martin ,chuzzlewit is by no means a 
fancy sketch4    ,the news of the       
revolution of the three days in ,paris1 
and the triumph of  the ,french people  
over ,charles ,x4 and his ministers1 as 

a matter of  course acted with great    
effect upon our national susceptibility4
  ,we all  threw up our hats in         
excessive joy at the spectacle of a king
 dashed down  headlong from his throne  
and chased out of his kingdom by his    
long-  suffering and oppressed subjects4
  ,we took half the credit of the       
performance to ourselves1 inasmuch as   
,lafayette was a principal actor in  it4
  ,our editors1 from ,passamaquoddy to  
the ,sabine1 indited paragraphs  for a  
thousand and one newspapers1            
congratulating the ,parisian patriots1  
and prophesying all manner of evil to   
holy alliances1 kings1 and              
aristocracies4  ,the ,national          
,intelligencer for ,september #bg1      
#ahcj1  contains a full account of the  
public rejoicings of the good people of 
,washington on the occasion4  ,bells    
were rung in all the steeples1 guns     
were fired1 and a grand procession was  
formed1 including the ,president of  the
 ,united ,states1 the heads of          

departments1 and other public           
functionaries4  ,decorated with         
tricolored ribbons1 and with tricolored 
flags mingling with the stripes and     
stars over their heads1 and gazed  down 
upon by bright eyes from window and     
balcony1 the general  sympathizers moved
 slowly and majestically through the    
broad avenue  towards the ,capitol to   
celebrate the revival of ,french liberty
 in a  manner becoming the chosen rulers
 of a free people4    ,what a spectacle 
was this for the representatives of     
,european kingcraft  at our seat of     
government6  ,how the titled agents of  
,metternich and  ,nicholas must have    
trembled1 in view of this imposing      
demonstration1 for  the safety of their 
peculiar institutions6    ,unluckily1   
however1 the moral effect of this grand 
spectacle was marred  somewhat by the   
appearance of another procession1 moving
 in a contrary  direction4  ,it was a   
gang of slaves6  ,handcuffed in pairs1  
with the  sullen sadness of despair in  

their faces1 they marched wearily onward
 to  the music of the driver's whip and 
the clanking iron on their limbs4       
,think of it6  ,shouts of triumph1      
rejoicing bells1 gay banners1 and       
glittering cavalcades1 in honor of      
,liberty1 in immediate contrast with    
men and women chained and driven like   
cattle to market6  ,the editor of  the  
,american ,spectator1 a paper published 
at ,washington at that time1  speaking  
of this black procession of slavery1    
describes it as driven  along by what   
had the appearance of a man on          
horseback4  ,the miserable  wretches who
 composed it were doubtless consigned to
 a slave-jail to  await their purchase  
and transportation to the ,south or     
,southwest2 and  perhaps formed a part  
of that drove of human beings which the 
same editor  states that he saw on the  
,saturday following1 males and females  
chained  in couples1 starting from      
,robey's tavern1 on foot1 for           
,alexandria1 to  embark on board a      

slave-ship4    ,at a ,virginia          
camp-meeting1 many years ago1 one of the
 brethren1  attempting an exhortation1  
stammered1 faltered1 and finally came to
 a  dead stand4  ,sit down1 brother1    
said old ,father ,kyle1 the one-eyed    
abolition preacher2 it's no use to try2 
you can't preach with twenty  negroes   
sticking in your throat6 ,it strikes us 
that our country is very  much in the   
condition of the poor confused preacher 
at the camp-meeting4  ,slavery sticks in
 its throat1 and spoils its finest      
performances1  political and            
ecclesiastical2 confuses the tongues of 
its evangelical  alliances2 makes a     
farce of its ,fourth of ,july           
celebrations2 and1 as in  the case of   
the grand ,washington procession of     
#ahcj1 sadly mars the  effect of its    
rejoicings in view of the progress of   
liberty abroad4  ,there is a stammer in 
all our exhortations2 our moral and     
political  homilies are sure to run into
 confusions and contradictions2 and the 

response which comes to us from the     
nations is not unlike that of ,father   
,kyle to the planter's attempt at       
sermonizing3 ,it's no use1 brother      
,jonathan2 you can't preach liberty with
 three millions of slaves in your       
throat6                                 
,a ,,chapter ,,of ,,history4            
#ahdd4    ,,the theory which a grave and
 learned ,northern senator has recently 
announced in ,congress1 that slavery1   
like the cotton-plant1 is confined  by  
natural laws to certain parallels of    
latitude1 beyond which it can by  no    
possibility exist1 however it may have  
satisfied its author and its  auditors1 
has unfortunately no verification in the
 facts of the case4  ,slavery is        
singularly cosmopolitan in its habits4  
,the offspring of  pride1 and lust1 and 
avarice1 it is indigenous to the world4 
,rooted in  the human heart1 it defies  
the rigors of winter in the steppes of  
,tartary  and the fierce sun of the     
tropics4  ,it has the universal         

acclimation of  sin4    ,the first      
account we have of negro slaves in ,new 
,england is from the pen  of ,john      
,josselyn4  ,nineteen years after the   
landing at ,plymouth1 this  interesting 
traveller was for some time the guest of
 ,samuel ,maverick1 who  then dwelt1    
like a feudal baron1 in his fortalice on
 ,noddle's ,island1  surrounded by      
retainers and servants1 bidding defiance
 to his ,indian  neighbors behind his   
strong walls1 with four great guns      
mounted  thereon1 and giving            
entertainment to all new-comers gratis4 
,on the #b;d of ,october1 #afci1 about  
nine o'clock in the morning1 ,mr4       
,maverick's negro woman1 says ,josselyn1
 came to my chamber1 and in her  own    
country language and tune sang very loud
 and shrill4  ,going out to  her1 she   
used a great deal of respect towards me1
 and would willingly  have expressed her
 grief in ,english had she been able to 
speak the  language2 but ,i apprehended 
it by her countenance and deportment4   

,whereupon ,i repaired to my host to    
learn of him the cause1 and resolved  to
 entreat him in her behalf2 for ,i had  
understood that she was a queen  in her 
own country1 and observed a very dutiful
 and humble garb used  towards her by   
another negro1 who was her maid4  ,mr4  
,maverick was  desirous to have a breed 
of negroes2 and therefore1 seeing she   
would not  yield by persuasions to      
company with a negro young man he had in
 his  house1 he commanded him1 willed   
she1 nilled she1 to go to her bed1 which
  was no sooner done than she thrust him
 out again4  ,this she took in high     
disdain beyond her slavery2 and this was
 the cause of her grief4    ,that the   
peculiar domestic arrangements and      
unfastidious economy of this            
slave-breeding settler were not         
countenanced by the ,puritans of that   
early time we have sufficient evidence4 
,it is but fair to suppose1 from  the   
silence of all other writers of the time
 with respect to negroes and  slaves1   

that this case was a marked exception to
 the general habits and  usage of the   
,colonists4  ,at an early period a      
traffic was commenced  between the ,new 
,england ,colonies and that of          
,barbadoes2 and it is not  improbable   
that slaves were brought to ,boston from
 that island4  ,the  laws1 however1     
discouraged their introduction and      
purchase1 giving  freedom to all held to
 service at the close of seven years4   
,in #afda1 two years after ,josselyn's  
adventure on ,noddle's ,island1 the     
code of laws known by the name of the   
,body of ,liberties was adopted by  the 
,colony4  ,it was drawn up by ,nathaniel
 ,ward1 the learned and ingenious       
author of the ',simple ,cobbler of      
,agawarn'1 the earliest poetical satire 
of ,new ,england4  ,one of its          
provisions was as follows3--    ,there  
shall be never any bond slaverie1       
villainage1 or captivitie  amongst us1  
unless it be lawfull captives taken in  
just warres and such  strangers as      

willingly sell themselves or are sold to
 us4  ,and these  shall have all the    
liberties and ,christian usages which   
the law of ,god  established in ,israel 
doth morally require4    ,in #afdf1     
,captain ,smith1 a ,boston              
church-member1 in connection with one   
,keeser1 brought home two negroes whom  
he obtained by the surprise and  burning
 of a negro village in ,africa and the  
massacre of many of its  inhabitants4   
,sir ,richard ,saltonstall1 one of the  
assistants1 presented a  petition to the
 ,general ,court1 stating the outrage   
thereby committed as  threefold in its  
nature1 namely murder1 man-stealing1 and
 ,sabbath-  breaking2 inasmuch as the   
offence of chasing the negers1 as       
aforesayde1  upon the ,sabbath day      
7being a servile work1 and such as      
cannot be  considered under any other   
head7 is expressly capital by the law of
 ,god2  for which reason he prays that  
the offenders may be brought to justice1
  soe that the sin they have committed  

may be upon their own heads and not     
upon ourselves4    ,upon this petition  
the ,general ,court passed the following
 order1  eminently worthy of men        
professing to rule in the fear and      
according to  the law of ,god1--a terror
 to evil-doers1 and a praise to them    
that do  well3--    ,the ,general       
,court1 conceiving themselves bound by  
the first opportunity  to bear witness  
against the heinous and crying sin of   
man-stealing1 as  also to prescribe such
 timely redress for what has passed1 and
 such a law  for the future as may      
sufficiently deter all others belonging 
to us to  have to do in such vile and   
odious courses1 justly abhorred of all  
good  and just men1 do order that the   
negro interpreter1 and others unlawfully
  taken1 be by the first opportunity1 at
 the charge of the country for the      
present1 sent to his native country1    
,guinea1 and a letter with him of the   
indignation of the ,court thereabout1   
and justice thereof1 desiring our       

honored ,governor would please put this 
order in execution4    ,there is1 so far
 as we know1 no historical record of the
 actual return of  these stolen men to  
their home4  ,a letter is extant1       
however1 addressed  in behalf of the    
,general ,court to a ,mr4 ,williams on  
the ,piscataqua1 by  whom one of the    
negroes had been purchased1 requesting  
him to send the  man forthwith to       
,boston1 that he may be sent home1 which
 this ,court do  resolve to send back   
without delay4    ,three years after1 in
 #afdi1 the following law was placed    
upon the  statute-book of the           
,massachusetts ,colony3--    ,if any man
 stealeth a man1 or mankind1 he shall   
surely be put to death4    ,it will thus
 be seen that these early attempts to   
introduce slavery into  ,new ,england   
were opposed by severe laws and by that 
strong popular  sentiment in favor of   
human liberty which characterized the   
,christian  radicals who laid the       
foundations of the ,colonies4  ,it was  

not the rigor  of her ,northern winter1 
nor the unkindly soil of ,massachusetts1
 which  discouraged the introduction of 
slavery in the first half-century of her
  existence as a colony4  ,it was the   
,puritan's recognition of the           
brotherhood of man in sin1 suffering1   
and redemption1 his estimate of the     
awful responsibilities and eternal      
destinies of humanity1 his hatred of    
wrong and tyranny1 and his stern sense  
of justice1 which led him to  impose    
upon the ,african slave-trader the      
terrible penalty of the ,mosaic  code4  
,but that brave old generation passed   
away4  ,the civil contentions in the    
mother country drove across the seas    
multitudes of restless adventurers  and 
speculators4  ,the ,indian wars         
unsettled and demoralized the people4   
,habits of luxury and the greed of gain 
took the place of the severe self-      
denial and rigid virtues of the fathers4
  ,hence we are not surprised to  find  
that ,josselyn1 in his second visit to  

,new ,england1 some twenty-five  years  
after his first1 speaks of the great    
increase of servants and  negroes4  ,in 
#afhj ,governor ,bradstreet1 in answer  
to the inquiries of his  ,majesty's     
,privy ,council1 states that two years  
before a vessel from  ,madagasca brought
 into the ,colony betwixt forty and     
fifty negroes1  mostly women and        
children1 who were sold at a loss to the
 owner of the  vessel4  ,now and then1  
he continues1 two or three negroes are  
brought  from ,barbadoes and other of   
his ,majesty's plantations and sold for 
twenty  pounds apiece2 so that there may
 be within the government about one     
hundred or one hundred and twenty1 and  
it may be as many ,scots1 brought       
hither and sold for servants in the time
 of the war with ,scotland1 and  about  
half as many ,irish4    ,the owning of a
 black or white slave1 or servant1 at   
this period was  regarded as an evidence
 of dignity and respectability2 and     
hence  magistrates and clergymen winked 

at the violation of the law by the      
mercenary traders1 and supplied         
themselves without scruple4  ,indian    
slaves were common1 and are named in old
 wills1 deeds1 and inventories1  with   
horses1 cows1 and household furniture4  
,as early as the year #afdi we  find    
,william ,hilton1 of ,newbury1 sells to 
,george ,carr1 for one quarter  part of 
a vessel1 ,james1 my ,indian1 with all  
the interest ,i have in him1  to be his 
servant forever4  ,some were taken in   
the ,narragansett war and  other ,indian
 wars2 others were brought from ,south  
,carolina and the  ,spanish ,main4  ,it 
is an instructive fact1 as illustrating 
the retributive  dealings of            
,providence1 that the direst affliction 
of the ,massachusetts  ,colony--the     
witchcraft terror of #afib--originated  
with the ,indian ,tituba1  a slave in   
the family of the minister of ,danvers4 
,in the year #afij the inhabitants of   
,newbury were greatly excited by the    
arrest of a ,jerseyman who had been     

engaged in enticing ,indians and        
negroes to leave their masters4  ,he was
 charged before the court with  saying  
that the ,english should be cut off and 
the negroes set free4  ,james1 a negro  
slave1 and ,joseph1 an ,indian1 were    
arrested with him4  ,their design was   
reported to be1 to seize a vessel in the
 port and escape  to ,canada and join   
the ,french1 and return and lay waste   
and plunder their  masters4  ,they were 
to come back with five hundred ,indians 
and three  hundred ,canadians2 and the  
place of crossing the ,merrimac ,river1 
and of  the first encampment on the     
other side1 were even said to be fixed  
upon4  ,when we consider that there     
could not have been more than a score of
  slaves in the settlement1 the         
excitement into which the inhabitants   
were  thrown by this absurd rumor of    
conspiracy seems not very unlike that of
 a  convocation of small planters in a  
backwoods settlement in ,south ,carolina
  on finding an anti-slavery newspaper  

in their weekly mail bag4    ,in #agji  
,colonel ,saltonstall1 of ,haverhill1   
had several negroes1 and among  them a  
high-spirited girl1 who1 for some       
alleged misdemeanor1 was  severely      
chastised4  ,the slave resolved upon    
revenge for her injury1 and  soon found 
the means of obtaining it4  ,the        
,colonel had on hand1 for  service in   
the ,indian war then raging1 a          
considerable store of gunpowder4  ,this 
she placed under the room in which her  
master and mistress slept1  laid a long 
train1 and dropped a coal on it4  ,she  
had barely time to  escape to the       
farm-house before the explosion took    
place1 shattering the  stately mansion  
into fragments4  ,saltonstall and his   
wife were carried on  their bed a       
considerable distance1 happily escaping 
serious injury4  ,some  soldiers        
stationed in the house were scattered in
 all directions2 but no  lives were     
lost4  ,the ,colonel1 on recovering from
 the effects of his  sudden overturn1   

hastened to the farm-house and found his
 servants all up  save the author of the
 mischief1 who was snug in bed and      
apparently in a  quiet sleep4    ,in    
#agja an attempt was made in the        
,general ,court of ,massachusetts to    
prevent the increase of slaves4  ,judge 
,sewall soon after published a  pamphlet
 against slavery1 but it seems with     
little effect4  ,boston  merchants and  
ship-owners became1 to a considerable   
extent1 involved in  the slave-trade4   
,distilleries1 established in that place
 and in ,rhode  ,island1 furnished rum  
for the ,african market4  ,the slaves   
were usually  taken to the ,west        
,indies1 although occasionally part of a
 cargo found its  way to ,new ,england1 
where the wholesome old laws against    
man-stealing had  become a dead letter  
on the statute-book4    ,in #agfg a bill
 was brought before the ,legislature of 
,massachusetts to  prevent the          
unwarrantable and unnatural custom of   
enslaving mankind4  ,the ,council of    

,governor ,bernard sent it back to the  
,house greatly changed  and curtailed1  
and it was lost by the disagreement of  
the two branches4  ,governor ,bernard   
threw his influence on the side of      
slavery4  ,in #aggd a  bill prohibiting 
the traffic in slaves passed both       
,houses2 but ,governor  ,hutchinson     
withheld his assent and dismissed the   
,legislature4  ,the  colored men sent a 
deputation of their own to the ,governor
 to solicit his  consent to the bill2   
but he told them his instructions       
forbade him4  ,a  similar committee     
waiting upon ,general ,gage received the
 same answer4    ,in the year #aggj a   
servant of ,richard ,lechmere1 of       
,cambridge1 stimulated  by the general  
discussion of the slavery question and  
by the advice of  some of the zealous   
advocates of emancipation1 brought an   
action against  his master for detaining
 him in bondage4  ,the suit was decided 
in his  favor two years before the      
similar decision in the case of         

,somerset in  ,england4  ,the funds     
necessary for carrying on this suit were
 raised among  the blacks themselves4   
,other suits followed in various parts  
of the  ,province2 and the result was1  
in every instance1 the freedom of the   
plaintiff4  ,in #aggc ,caesar ,hendrick 
sued his master1 one ,greenleaf1 of     
,newburyport1 for damages1 laid at fifty
 pounds1 for holding him as a  slave4   
,the jury awarded him his freedom and   
eighteen pounds4    ,according to ,dr4  
,belknap1 whose answers to the queries  
on the subject1  propounded by ,judge   
,tucker1 of ,virginia1 have furnished us
 with many of  the facts above stated1  
the principal grounds upon which the    
counsel of  the masters depended were1  
that the negroes were purchased in open 
market1 and included in the bills of    
sale like other property2 that  slavery 
was sanctioned by usage2 and1 finally1  
that the laws of the  ,province         
recognized its existence by making      
masters liable for the  maintenance of  

their slaves1 or servants4    ,on the   
part of the blacks1 the law and usage of
 the mother country1  confirmed by the  
,great ,charter1 that no man can be     
deprived of his  liberty but by the     
judgment of his peers1 were effectually 
pleaded4  ,the  early laws of the       
,province prohibited slavery1 and no    
subsequent  legislation had sanctioned  
it2 for1 although the laws did recognize
 its  existence1 they did so only to    
mitigate and modify an admitted evil4   
,the present state constitution was     
established in #aghj4  ,the first       
article of the ,bill of ,rights         
prohibited slavery by affirming the     
foundation truth of our republic1 that  
all men are born free and equal4  ,the  
,supreme ,court decided in #aghc that no
 man could hold another as  property    
without a direct violation of that      
article4    ,in #aghh three free black  
citizens of ,boston were kidnapped and  
sold into  slavery in one of the ,french
 islands4  ,an intense excitement       

followed4  ,governor ,hancock took      
efficient measures for reclaiming the   
unfortunate  men4  ,the clergy of       
,boston petitioned the ,legislature for 
a total  prohibition of the foreign     
slave-trade4  ,the ,society of ,friends1
 and the  blacks generally1 presented   
similar petitions2 and the same year an 
act  was passed prohibiting the         
slave-trade and granting relief to      
persons  kidnapped or decoyed out of the
 ,commonwealth4  ,the fear of a burden  
to  the state from the influx of negroes
 from abroad led the ,legislature1 in   
connection with this law1 to prevent    
those who were not citizens of the      
state or of other states from gaining a 
residence4    ,the first case of the    
arrest of a fugitive slave in           
,massachusetts under  the law of #agic  
took place in ,boston soon after the    
passage of the law4  ,it is the case to 
which ,president ,quincy alludes in his 
late letter  against the fugitive slave 
law4  ,the populace at the trial aided  

the  slave to escape1 and nothing       
further was done about it4    ,the      
arrest of ,george ,latimer as a slave1  
in ,boston1 and his illegal  confinement
 in jail1 in #ahdb1 led to the passage  
of the law of #ahdc for  the protection 
of personal liberty1 prohibiting state  
officers from  arresting or detaining   
persons claimed as slaves1 and the use  
of the  jails of the ,commonwealth for  
their confinement4  ,this law was       
strictly  in accordance with the        
decision of the supreme judiciary1 in   
the case of  ,prigg vs4 ,the ,state of  
,pennsylvania1 that the reclaiming of   
fugitives was  a matter exclusively     
belonging to the general government2 yet
 that the  state officials might1 if    
they saw fit1 carry into effect the law 
of  ,congress on the subject1 unless    
prohibited by state legislation4    ,it 
will be seen by the facts we have       
adduced that slavery in  ,massachusetts 
never had a legal existence4  ,the      
ermine of the judiciary  of the ,puritan

 state has never been sullied by the    
admission of its  detestable claims4    
,it crept into the ,commonwealth like   
other evils and  vices1 but never       
succeeded in clothing itself with the   
sanction and  authority of law4  ,it    
stood only upon its own execrable       
foundation of  robbery and wrong4       
,with a history like this to look back  
upon1 is it strange that the people  of 
,massachusetts at the present day are   
unwilling to see their time-  honored   
defences of personal freedom1 the good  
old safeguards of ,saxon  liberty1      
overridden and swept away after the     
summary fashion of the  ,fugitive ,slave
 ,bill2 that they should loathe and     
scorn the task which  that bill imposes 
upon them of aiding professional        
slave-hunters in  seizing1 fettering1   
and consigning to bondage men and women 
accused only  of that which commends    
them to esteem and sympathy1 love of    
liberty and  hatred of slavery2 that    
they cannot at once adjust themselves to

  constitutional duties which in ,south 
,carolina and ,georgia are reserved  for
 trained bloodhounds8  ,surely1 in view 
of what ,massachusetts has been1  and   
her strong bias in favor of human       
freedom1 derived from her great-        
hearted founders1 it is to be hoped that
 the ,executive and ,cabinet at         
,washington will grant her some little  
respite1 some space for turning1  some  
opportunity for conquering her          
prejudices1 before letting loose the    
dogs of war upon her4  ,let them give   
her time1 and treat with forbearance    
her hesitation1 qualms of conscience1   
and wounded pride4  ,her people1        
indeed1 are awkward in the work of      
slave-catching1 and1 it would seem1     
rendered but indifferent service in a   
late hunt in ,boston4  ,whether they    
would do better under the surveillance  
of the army and navy of the ,united     
,states is a question which we leave    
with the ,president and his ,secretary  
of ,state4  ,general ,putnam once       

undertook to drill a company of         
,quakers1  and instruct them1 by force  
of arms1 in the art and mystery of      
fighting2  but not a single pair of     
drab-colored breeches moved at his      
forward  march2 not a broad beaver      
wheeled at his word of command2 no hand 
unclosed to receive a proffered musket4 
,patriotic appeal1 hard swearing1  and  
prick of bayonet had no effect upon     
these impracticable raw recruits2  and  
the stout general gave them up in       
despair4  ,we are inclined to  believe  
that any attempt on the part of the     
,commander-in-chief of our  army and    
navy to convert the good people of      
,massachusetts into expert              
slave-catchers1 under the discipline of 
,west ,point and ,norfolk1 would  prove 
as idle an experiment as that of        
,general ,putnam upon the ,quakers4     
,,thomas ,,carlyle ,,on ,,the           
,,slave-,,question4                     
#ahdf4    ,a ,,late number of ,fraser's 
,magazine contains an article bearing   

the  unmistakable impress of the        
,anglo-,german peculiarities of ,thomas 
,carlyle1  entitled1 ',an ,occasional   
,discourse on the ,negro ,question'1    
which would be  interesting as a        
literary curiosity were it not in spirit
 and tendency so  unspeakably wicked as 
to excite in every rightminded reader a 
feeling of  amazement and disgust4      
,with a hard1 brutal audacity1 a        
blasphemous  irreverence1 and a sneering
 mockery which would do honor to the    
devil of  ,faust1 it takes issue with   
the moral sense of mankind and the      
precepts of  ,christianity4  ,having    
ascertained that the exports of sugar   
and spices  from the ,west ,indies have 
diminished since emancipation1--and that
 the  negroes1 having worked1 as they   
believed1 quite long enough without     
wages1 now refuse to work for the       
planters without higher pay than the    
latter1 with the thriftless and evil    
habits of slavery still clinging to     
them1 can afford to give1--the author   

considers himself justified in          
denouncing negro emancipation as one of 
the shams which he was  specially sent  
into this world to belabor4  ,had he    
confned himself to  simple abuse and    
caricature of the self-denying and      
,christian  abolitionists of            
,england--the broad-brimmed             
philanthropists of ,exeter  ,hall--there
 would have been small occasion for     
noticing his splenetic  and             
discreditable production4  ,doubtless   
there is a cant of philanthropy  --the  
alloy of human frailty and folly--in the
 most righteous reforms1  which is a    
fair subject for the indignant sarcasm  
of a professed hater of  shows and      
falsities4  ,whatever is hollow and     
hypocritical in politics1  morals1 or   
religion1 comes very properly within the
 scope of his mockery1  and we bid him  
,godspeed in plying his satirical lash  
upon it4  ,impostures  and frauds of all
 kinds deserve nothing better than      
detection and  exposure4  ,let him blow 

them up to his heart's content1 as      
,daniel did the  image of ,bell and the 
,dragon4    ,but our author1 in this    
matter of negro slavery1 has undertaken 
to apply  his explosive pitch and rosin1
 not to the affectation of humanity1 but
 to  humanity itself4  ,he mocks at     
pity1 scoffs at all who seek to lessen  
the  amount of pain and suffering1      
sneers at and denies the most sacred    
rights1 and mercilessly consigns an     
entire class of the children of his     
,heavenly ,father to the doom of        
compulsory servitude4  ,he vituperates  
the  poor black man with a coarse       
brutality which would do credit to a    
,mississippi slave-driver1 or a renegade
 ,yankee dealer in human cattle on  the 
banks of the ,potomac4  ,his rhetoric   
has a flavor of the slave-pen and       
auction-block1 vulgar1 unmanly1         
indecent1 a scandalous outrage upon good
  taste and refined feeling1 which at   
once degrades the author and insults    
his readers4    ,he assumes 7for he is  

one of those sublimated philosophers who
 reject the  ,baconian system of        
induction and depend upon intuition     
without recourse  to facts and figures7 
that the emancipated class in the ,west 
,india  ,islands are universally idle1  
improvident1 and unfit for freedom2 that
  ,god created them to be the servants  
and slaves of their born lords1 the     
white men1 and designed them to grow    
sugar1 coffee1 and spices for their     
masters1 instead of raising pumpkins and
 yams for themselves2 and that1  if they
 will not do this1 the beneficent whip  
should be again employed  to compel     
them4  ,he adopts1 in speaking of the   
black class1 the lowest  slang of vulgar
 prejudice4  ,black ,quashee1 sneers the
 gentlemanly  philosopher1--black       
,quashee1 if he will not help in        
bringing out the  spices1 will get      
himself made a slave again 7which state 
will be a little  less ugly than his    
present one71 and with beneficent whip1 
since other  methods avail not1 will be 

compelled to work4    ,it is difficult  
to treat sentiments so atrocious and    
couched in such  offensive language with
 anything like respect4  ,common sense  
and  unperverted conscience revolt      
instinctively against them4  ,the       
doctrine  they inculcate is that which  
underlies all tyranny and wrong of man  
towards man4  ,it is that under which   
the creation groaneth and  travaileth   
unto this day4  ,it is as old as sin2   
the perpetual argument  of strength     
against weakness1 of power against      
right2 that of the ,greek  philosopher1 
that the barbarians1 being of an        
inferior race1 were born to  be slaves  
to the ,greeks2 and of the infidel      
,hobbes1 that every man1 being  by      
nature at war with every other man1 has 
a perpetual right to reduce  him to     
servitude if he has the power4  ,it is  
the cardinal doctrine of  what ,john    
,quincy ,adams has very properly styled 
the ,satanic school of  philosophy1--the
 ethics of an old ,norse sea robber or  

an ,arab plunderer  of caravans4  ,it is
 as widely removed from the sweet       
humanities and  unselfish benevolence of
 ,christianity as the faith and practice
 of the  ,east ,india ,thug or the ,new 
,zealand cannibal4    ,our author does  
not1 however1 take us altogether by     
surprise4  ,he has  before given no     
uncertain intimations of the point      
towards which his  philosophy was       
tending4  ,in his brilliant essay upon  
',francia of  ,paraguay'1 for instance1 
we find him entering with manifest      
satisfaction  and admiration into the   
details of his hero's tyranny4  ,in his 
',letters  and ,speeches of ,oliver     
,cromwell'--in half a dozen pages of    
savage and  almost diabolical sarcasm   
directed against the growing humanity of
 the  age1 the rose-pink                
sentimentalisms1 and squeamishness which
 shudders at  the sight of blood and    
infliction of pain--he prepares the way 
for a  justification of the massacre of 
,drogheda4  ,more recently he has       

intimated that the extermination of the 
,celtic race is the best way of         
settling the ,irish question2 and that  
the enslavement and forcible            
transportation of her poor1 to labor    
under armed taskmasters in the          
colonies1 is the only rightful and      
proper remedy for the political and     
social evils of ,england4  ,in the      
',discourse on ,negro ,slavery' we see  
this  devilish philosophy in full bloom4
  ,the gods1 he tells us1 are with the  
strong4  ,might has a divine right to   
rule1--blessed are the crafty of  brain 
and strong of hand6  ,weakness is crime4
  ,vae victis6 as ,brennus  said when he
 threw his sword into the scale1--,woe  
to the conquered6  ,the  negro is weaker
 in intellect than his born lord1 the   
white man1 and has  no right to choose  
his own vocation4  ,let the latter do it
 for him1 and1  if need be1 return to   
the beneficent whip4  ,on the side of   
the  oppressor there is power2 let him  
use it without mercy1 and hold flesh    

and blood to the grindstone with        
unrelenting rigor4  ,humanity is        
squeamishness2 pity for the suffering   
mere rose-pink sentimentalism1  maudlin 
and unmanly4  ,the gods 7the old ,norse 
gods doubtless7 laugh to  scorn alike   
the complaints of the miserable and the 
weak compassions and  philanthropisms of
 those who would relieve them4  ,this is
 the substance  of ,thomas ,carlyle's   
advice2 this is the matured fruit of his
 philosophic  husbandry1--the grand     
result for which he has been all his    
life sounding  unfathomable abysses or  
beating about in the thin air of        
,transcendentalism4  ,such is the       
substitute which he offers us for the   
,sermon on the ,mount4    ,he tells us  
that the blacks have no right to use the
 islands of the ,west  ,indies for      
growing pumpkins and garden stuffs for  
their own use and  behoof1 because1 but 
for the wisdom and skill of the whites1 
these  islands would have been          
productive only of jungle1 savagery1 and

 swamp  malaria4  ,the negro alone could
 never have improved the islands or     
civilized himself2 and therefore their  
and his born lord1 the white  man1 has a
 right to the benefits of his own       
betterments of land and two-  legged    
cattle6  ,black ,quashee has no right to
 dispose of himself and  his labor      
because he owes his partial civilization
 to others6  ,and pray  how has it been 
with the white race1 for whom our       
philosopher claims the  divine          
prerogative of enslaving8  ,some twenty 
and odd centuries ago1 a  pair of       
half-naked savages1 daubed with paint1  
might have been seen  roaming among the 
hills and woods of the northern part of 
the ,british  island1 subsisting on     
acorns and the flesh of wild animals1   
with an  occasional relish of the smoked
 hams and pickled fingers of some       
unfortunate stranger caught on the wrong
 side of the ,tweed4  ,this  interesting
 couple reared1 as they best could1 a   
family of children1 who1  in turn1      

became the heads of families2 and some  
time about the beginning  of the present
 century one of their descendants in the
 borough of  ,ecclefechan rejoiced over 
the birth of a man child now somewhat   
famous as  ,thomas ,carlyle1 a maker of 
books4  ,does it become such a one to   
rave  against the ,west ,india negro's  
incapacity for self-civilization8       
,unaided  by the arts1 sciences1 and    
refinements of the ,romans1 he might    
have been1  at this very day1 squatted  
on his naked haunches in the woods of   
,ecclefechan1 painting his              
weather-hardened epidermis in the sun   
like his  ,piet ancestors4  ,where1 in  
fact1 can we look for unaided           
self-improvement  and spontaneous       
internal development1 to any            
considerable extent1 on the  part of any
 nation or people8  ,from people to     
people the original ,god-  given impulse
 towards civilization and perfection has
 been transmitted1  as from ,egypt to   
,greece1 and thence to the ,roman world4

    ,but the blacks1 we are told1 are   
indolent and insensible to the duty of  
raising sugar and coffee and spice for  
the whites1 being mainly careful  to    
provide for their own household and till
 their own gardens for  domestic        
comforts and necessaries4  ,the exports 
have fallen off somewhat4  ,and what    
does this prove8  ,only that the negro  
is now a consumer of  products1 of      
which1 under the rule of the whip1 he   
was a producer merely4  ,as to          
indolence1 under the proper stimulus of 
fair wages we have reason  to believe   
that the charge is not sustained4  ,if  
unthrifty habits and  lack of prudence  
on the part of the owners of estates1   
combined with the  repeal of duties on  
foreign sugars by the ,british          
government1 have placed  it out of their
 power to pay just and reasonable wages 
for labor1 who can  blame the blacks if 
they prefer to cultivate their own      
garden plots  rather than raise sugar   
and spice for their late masters upon   

terms  little better than those of their
 old condition1 the beneficent whip     
always excepted8  ,the despatches of the
 colonial governors agree in  admitting 
that the blacks have had great cause for
 complaint and  dissatisfaction1 owing  
to the delay or non-payment of their    
wages4  ,sir  ,c4 ,e4  ,gray1 writing   
from ,jamaica1 says1 that in a good many
 instances  the payment of the wages    
they have earned has been either very   
irregularly made1 or not at all1        
probably on account of the inability of 
the employers4  ,he says1 moreover3--   
,the negroes appear to me to be         
generally as free from rebellious       
tendencies or turbulent feelings and    
malicious thoughts as any race of       
laborers ,i ever saw or heard of4  ,my  
impression is1 indeed1 that under a     
system of perfectly fair dealing and of 
real justice they will come to be  an   
admirable peasantry and yeomanry2       
able-bodied1 industrious1 and hard-     
working1 frank1 and well-disposed4      

,it must1 indeed1 be admitted that1     
judging by their diminished exports  and
 the growing complaints of the owners of
 estates1 the condition of the  islands1
 in a financial point of view1 is by no 
means favorable4  ,an  immediate cause  
of this1 however1 must be found in the  
unfortunate ,sugar  ,act of #ahdf4  ,the
 more remote1 but for the most part     
powerful1 cause of  the present         
depression is to be traced to the       
vicious and unnatural  system of        
slavery1 which has been gradually but   
surely preparing the way  for ruin1     
bankruptcy1 and demoralization4  ,never 
yet1 by a community or  an individual1  
have the righteous laws of ,god been    
violated with  impunity4  ,sooner or    
later comes the penalty which the       
infinite justice  has affixed to sin4   
,partial and temporary evils and        
inconveniences have  undoubtedly        
resulted from the emancipation of the   
laborers2 and many  years must elapse   
before the relations of the two         

heretofore antagonistic  classes can be 
perfectly adjusted and their interests  
brought into entire  harmony4  ,but that
 freedom is not to be held mainly       
accountable for the  depression of the  
,british colonies is obvious from the   
fact that ,dutch  ,surinam1 where the   
old system of slavery remains in its    
original rigor1  is in an equally       
depressed condition4  ,the ',paramaribo 
,neuws en  ,advertentie ,blad'1 quoted  
in the ,jamaica ,gazette1 says1 under   
date of  ,january #b1 #ahej3 ,around us 
we hear nothing but complaints4  ,people
 seek  and find matter in everything to 
picture to themselves the lot of the    
place in which they live as bitterer    
than that of any other country4  ,of  a 
large number of flourishing plantations1
 few remain that can now be  called     
such4  ,so deteriorated has property    
become within the last few  years1 that 
many of these estates have not been able
 to defray their  weekly expenses4  ,the
 colony stands on the brink of a yawning

 abyss1 into  which it must inevitably  
plunge unless some new and better system
 is  speedily adopted4  ,it is          
impossible that our agriculture can any 
longer  proceed on its old footing2 our 
laboring force is dying away1 and the   
social position they held must undergo a
 revolution4    ,the paper from which we
 have quoted1 the official journal of   
the colony1  thinks the condition of the
 emancipated ,british colonies decidedly
  preferable to that of ,surinam1 where 
the old slave system has continued  in  
force1 and insists that the ,dutch      
government must follow the example  of  
,great ,britain4  ,the actual condition 
of the ,british colonies since          
emancipation is perfectly well known in 
,surinam3 three of them1  ,essequibo1   
,demerara1 and ,berbice1 being its      
immediate neighbors1 whatever  evils and
 inconveniences have resuited from      
emancipation must be well  understood by
 the ,dutch slave-holders2 yet we find  
them looking towards  emancipation as   

the only prospect of remedy for the     
greater evils of  their own system4     
,this fact is of itself a sufficient    
answer to the assumption of ,carlyle    
and others1 that what they call the ruin
 of the colonies has been  produced by  
the emancipation acts of #ahcc and      
#ahch4    ,we have no fears whatever of 
the efect of this literary monstrosity1 
which we have been considering upon the 
,british colonies4  ,quashee1 black  and
 ignorant as he may be1 will not get    
himself made a slave again4  ,the       
mission of the beneficent whip is there 
pretty well over2 and it  may now find  
its place in museums and cabinets of    
ghastly curiosities1  with the racks1   
pillories1 thumbscrews1 and             
branding-irons of old days4  ,what we   
have feared1 however1 is1 that the      
advocates and defenders of              
slave-holding in this country might find
 in this discourse matter of            
encouragement1 and that our             
anti-christian prejudices against the   

colored  man might be strengthened and  
confirmed by its malignant vituperation 
and  sarcasm4  ,on this point we have   
sympathized with the forebodings of an  
eloquent writer in the ,london          
,enquirer3--    ,we cannot imagine a    
more deadly moral poison for the        
,american people  than his ,carlyle's   
last composition4  ,every cruel practice
 of social  exclusion will derive from  
it new sharpness and venom4  ,the       
slave-holder1  of course1 will exult to 
find himself1 not apologized for1 but   
enthusiastically cheered1 upheld1 and   
glorified1 by a writer of ,european     
celebrity4  ,but it is not merely the   
slave who will feel ,mr4 ,carlyle's     
hand in the torture of his flesh1 the   
riveting of his fetters1 and the  denial
 of light to his mind4  ,the free black 
will feel him1 too1 in the  more        
contemptuous and abhorrent scowl of his 
brother man1 who will easily  derive    
from this unfortunate essay the belief  
that his inhuman feelings  are of divine

 ordination4  ,it is a true work of the 
,devil1 the fostering  of a tyrannical  
prejudice4  ,far and wide over space1   
and long into the  future1 the winged   
words of evil counsel will go4  ,in the 
market-place1  in the house1 in the     
theatre1 and in the church1--by land and
 by sea1 in  all the haunts of          
men1--their influence will be felt in a 
perennial  growth of hate and scorn1 and
 suffering and resentment4  ,amongst the
  sufferers will be many to whom        
education has given every refined       
susceptibility that makes contempt and  
exclusion bitter4  ,men and women1      
faithful and diligent1 loving and worthy
 to be loved1 and bearing1 it may  be1  
no more than an almost imperceptible    
trace of ,african descent1 will         
continue yet longer to be banished from 
the social meal of the white man1  and  
to be spurned from his presence in the  
house of ,god1 because a writer  of     
genius has lent the weight of his       
authority and his fame1 if not of  his  

power1 to the perpetuation of a         
prejudice which ,christianity was       
undermining4    ,a more recent          
production1 ',latter ,day ,pamphlets'1  
in which man's  capability of           
self-government is more than doubted1   
democracy somewhat  contemptuously      
sneered at1 and the model republic      
itself stigmatized as  a nation of      
bores1 may have a salutary effect in    
restraining our  admiration and in      
lessening our respect for the defender  
and eulogist of  slavery4  ,the sweeping
 impartiality with which in this latter 
production  he applies the principle of 
our peculiar institution to the laboring
  poor man1 irrespective of color1      
recognizing as his only inalienable     
right the right of being set to labor   
for his born lords1 will1 we  imagine1  
go far to neutralize the mischief of his
 ,discourse upon ,negro  ,slavery4  ,it 
is a sad thing to find so much          
intellectual power as ,carlyle  really  
possesses so little under the control of

 the moral sentiments4  ,in  some of his
 earlier writings--as1 for instance1 his
 beautiful tribute to  the ,corn ,law   
,rhymer--we thought we saw evidence of a
 warm and generous  sympathy with the   
poor and the wronged1 a desire to       
ameliorate human  suffering1 which would
 have done credit to the philanthropisms
 of ,exeter  ,hall and the ,abolition of
 ,pain ,society4  ,latterly1 however1   
like  ,moliere's quack1 he has changed  
all that2 his heart has got upon the    
wrong side2 or rather1 he seems to us   
very much in the condition of the       
coal-burner in the ,german tale1 who had
 swapped his heart of flesh for a       
cobblestone4                            
,,formation ,,of ,,the ,,american       
,,antislavery ,,society4         ,a     
letter to ,william ,lloyd ,garrison1    
,president of the ,society4             
,,amesbury1 #bdth #aath mo41 #ahfc4     
,,my ,,dear ,,friend1--,i have received 
thy kind letter1 with the accompanying  
circular1 inviting me to attend the     

commemoration of the thirtieth          
anniversary of the formation of the     
,american ,anti-,slavery ,society1 at   
,philadelphia4  ,it is with the deepest 
regret that ,i am compelled1 by the     
feeble state of my health1 to give up   
all hope of meeting thee and my  other  
old and dear friends on an occasion of  
so much interest4  ,how much  it costs  
me to acquiesce in the hard necessity   
thy own feelings will tell  thee better 
than any words of mine4    ,i look back 
over thirty years1 and call to mind all 
the circumstances of  my journey to     
,philadelphia1 in company with thyself  
and the excellent ,dr4  ,thurston of    
,maine1 even then1 as we thought1 an old
 man1 but still  living1 and true as    
ever to the good cause4  ,i recall the  
early gray  morning when1 with ,samuel  
,j4 ,may1 our colleague on the committee
 to  prepare a ,declaration of          
,sentiments for the convention1 ,i      
climbed to the  small upper chamber of a
 colored friend to hear thee read the   

first  draft of a paper which will live 
as long as our national history4  ,i see
  the members of the convention1        
solemnized by the responsibility1 rise  
one  by one1 and solemnly affix their   
names to that stern pledge of fidelity  
to freedom4  ,of the signers1 many have 
passed away from earth1 a few have      
faltered and turned back1 but ,i believe
 the majority still live to  rejoice    
over the great triumph of truth and     
justice1 and to devote what  remains of 
time and strength to the cause to which 
they consecrated their  youth and       
manhood thirty years ago4    ,for while 
we may well thank ,god and congratulate 
one another on the  prospect of the     
speedy emancipation of the slaves of the
 ,united ,states1  we must not for a    
moment forget that1 from this hour1 new 
and mighty  responsibilities devolve    
upon us to aid1 direct1 and educate     
these  millions1 left free1 indeed1 but 
bewildered1 ignorant1 naked1 and        
foodless in the wild chaos of civil war4

  ,we have to undo the accumulated      
wrongs of two centuries2 to remake the  
manhood which slavery has well-  nigh   
unmade2 to see to it that the           
long-oppressed colored man has a fair   
field for development and improvement2  
and to tread under our feet the  last   
vestige of that hateful prejudice which 
has been the strongest  external support
 of ,southern slavery4  ,we must lift   
ourselves at once to  the true          
,christian altitude where all           
distinctions of black and white are     
overlooked in the heartfelt recognition 
of the brotherhood of man4    ,i must   
not close this letter without confessing
 that ,i cannot be  sufficiently        
thankful to the ,divine ,providence     
which1 in a great measure  through thy  
instrumentality1 turned me away so early
 from what ,roger  ,williams calls the  
world's great trinity1 pleasure1 profit1
 and honor1  to take side with the poor 
and oppressed4  ,i am not insensible to 
literary reputation4  ,i love1 perhaps  

too well1 the praise and good-will  of  
my fellow-men2 but ,i set a higher value
 on my name as appended to the          
,anti-,slavery ,declaration of #ahcc    
than on the title-page of any book4     
,looking over a life marked by many     
errors and shortcomings1 ,i rejoice     
that ,i have been able to maintain the  
pledge of that signature1 and that1  in 
the long intervening years1        ,my  
voice1 though not the loudest1 has been 
heard ,wherever ,freedom       raised   
her cry of pain4    ,let me1 through    
thee1 extend a warm greeting to the     
friends1 whether of  our own or the new 
generation1 who may assemble on the     
occasion of  commemoration4  ,there is  
work yet to be done which will task the 
best  efforts of us all4  ,for thyself1 
,i need not say that the love and esteem
  of early boyhood have lost nothing by 
the test of time2 and                   
,i am1 very cordially1 thy friend1      
,,john ,g4  ,,whittier                  
,,the ,,lesson ,,and ,,our ,,duty4      

,from the ,amesbury ,villager4          
#ahfe4      ,,in the assassination of   
,abraham ,lincoln and the unspeakably   
brutal  assault upon ,secretary ,seward 
slavery has made another revelation of  
itself4  ,perhaps it was needed4  ,in   
the magnanimity of assured victory we   
were perhaps disposed to overlook1 not  
so much the guilty leaders and          
misguided masses of the great rebellion 
as the unutterable horror and sin  of   
slavery which prompted it4    ,how      
slowly we of the ,north have learned the
 true character of this mighty          
mischief6  ,how our politicians bowed   
their strong shoulders under its        
burthens6  ,how our churches reverenced 
it6  ,how our clergy contrasted the     
heresy-tolerating ,north with the purely
 orthodox and ,scriptural type of       
slave-holding ,christianity6  ,how all  
classes hunted down1 not merely the     
fugitive slave1 but the few who ventured
 to give him food and shelter and  a    
,godspeed in his flight from bondage6   

,how utterly ignored was the  negro's   
claim of common humanity6  ,how readily 
was the decision of the  slave-holding  
chief justice acquiesced in1 that the   
black man had no  rights which the white
 man is bound to respect6    ,we saw a  
senator of the ,united ,states1         
world-known and honored for his         
learning1 talents1 and stainless        
integrity1 beaten down and all but      
murdered at his official desk by a      
,south ,carolina slave-holder1 for the  
crime of speaking against the extension 
of slavery2 and we heard the  dastardly 
deed applauded throughout the ,south1   
while its brutal  perpetrator was       
rewarded with orations and gifts and    
smiles of beauty as  a chivalrous       
gentleman4  ,we saw slavery enter       
,kansas1 with bowieknife in  hand and   
curses on its lips2 we saw the life of  
the ,union struck at by  secession and  
rebellion2 we heard of the bones of sons
 and brothers1  fallen in defence of    
freedom and law1 dug up and wrought into

 ornaments  for the wrists and bosoms of
 slave-holding women2 we looked into the
 open  hell of ,andersonville1 upon the 
deliberate1 systematic starvation of    
helpless prisoners2 we heard of ,libby  
,prison underlaid with gunpowder1  for  
the purpose of destroying thousands of  
,union prisoners in case of the         
occupation of ,richmond by our army2 we 
saw hundreds of prisoners  massacred in 
cold blood at ,fort ,pillow1 and the    
midnight sack of ,lawrence  and the     
murder of its principal citizens4  ,the 
flames of our merchant  vessels1 seized 
by pirates1 lighted every sea2 we heard 
of officers of  the rebel army and navy 
stealing into our cities1 firing hotels 
filled  with sleeping occupants1 and    
laying obstructions on the track of rail
  cars1 for the purpose of killing and  
mangling their passengers4  ,yet in     
spite of these revelations of the       
utterly barbarous character of slavery  
and its direful effect upon all         
connected with it1 we were on the very  

point of trusting to its most criminal  
defenders the task of  reestablishing   
the state governments of the ,south1    
leaving the real ,union  men1 white as  
well as black1 at the mercy of those who
 have made hatred a  religion and murder
 a sacrament4  ,the nation needed one   
more terrible  lesson4  ,it has it in   
the murder of its beloved chief         
magistrate and the  attempted           
assassination of its honored prime      
minister1 the two men of all  others    
prepared to go farthest to smooth the   
way of defeated rebellion  back to      
allegiance4    ,even now the lesson of  
these terrible events seems but half    
learned4  ,in  the public utterances ,i 
hear much of punishing and hanging      
leading  traitors1 fierce demands for   
vengeance1 and threats of the summary   
chastisement of domestic sympathizers   
with treason1 but comparatively  little 
is said of the accursed cause1 the      
prolific mother of  abominations1       
slavery4  ,the government is exhorted to

 remember that it  does not bear the    
sword in vain1 the ,old ,testament is   
ransacked for texts  of ,oriental hatred
 and examples of the revenges of a      
semi-barbarous  nation2 but1 as respects
 the four millions of unmistakably loyal
 people  of the ,south1 the patient1 the
 long-suffering1 kind-hearted victims of
  oppressions1 only here and there a    
voice pleads for their endowment with   
the same rights of citizenship which are
 to be accorded to the rank and  file of
 disbanded rebels4  ,the golden rule of 
the ,sermon on the ,mount is  not       
applied to them4  ,much is said of      
executing justice upon rebels2  little  
of justice to loyal black men4  ,hanging
 a few ringleaders of  treason1 it seems
 to be supposed1 is all that is needed  
to restore and  reestablish the revolted
 states4  ,the negro is to be left      
powerless in  the hands of the white    
trash1 who hate him with a bitter       
hatred1  exceeding that of the large    
slave-holders4  ,in short1 four years of

  terrible chastisement1 of ,god's      
unmistakable judgments1 have not taught 
us1 as a people1 their lesson1 which    
could scarcely be plainer if it had     
been written in letters of fire on the  
sky4  ,why is it that we are so  slow to
 learn1 so unwilling to confess that    
slavery is the accursed thing  which    
whets the knife of murder1 and          
transforms men1 with the exterior of    
gentlemen and ,christians1 into fiends8 
,how pitiful is our exultation  over the
 capture of the wretched ,booth and his 
associates6  ,the great  criminal1 of   
whom he and they were but paltry        
instruments1 still stalks  abroad in the
 pine woods of ,jersey1 where the state 
has thrown around him  her legislative  
sanction and protection4  ,he is in     
,pennsylvania1  thrusting the black man 
from public conveyances4  ,wherever     
,god's children  are despised1 insulted1
 and abused on account of their color1  
there is  the real assassin of the      
,president still at large4  ,i do not   

wonder at  the indignation which has    
been awakened by the late outrage1 for  
,i have  painfully shared it4  ,but let 
us see to it that it is rightly         
directed4  ,the hanging of a score of   
,southern traitors will not restore     
,abraham  ,lincoln nor atone for the    
mighty loss4  ,in wreaking revenge upon 
these  miserable men1 we must see to it 
that we do not degrade ourselves and do 
dishonor to the sacred memory of the    
dead4  ,we do well to be angry2 and1  if
 need be1 let our wrath wax seven times 
hotter1 until that which was a  murderer
 from the beginning is consumed from the
 face of the earth4  ,as  the people    
stand by the grave of ,lincoln1 let them
 lift their right hands  to heaven and  
take a solemn vow upon their souls to   
give no sleep to  their eyes nor slumber
 to their eyelids until slavery is      
hunted from its  last shelter1 and every
 man1 black and white1 stands equal     
before the  law4    ,in dealing with the
 guilty leaders and instigators of the  

rebellion we  should beware how we take 
counsel of passion4  ,hatred has no     
place beside  the calm and awful dignity
 of justice4  ,human life is still a    
very sacred  thing2 ,christian          
forbearance and patience are still      
virtues4  ,for my own  part1 ,i should  
be satisfied to see the chiefs of the   
great treason go out  from among us     
homeless1 exiled1 with the mark of ,cain
 on their foreheads1  carrying with     
them1 wherever they go1 the avenging    
,nemesis of conscience4  ,we cannot take
 lessons1 at this late day1 in their    
school of barbarism2  we cannot starve  
and torture them as they have starved   
and tortured our  soldiers4  ,let them  
live4  ,perhaps that is1 after all1 the 
most terrible  penalty4  ,for wherever  
they hide themselves the story of their 
acts will  pursue them2 they can have no
 rest nor peace save in that deep       
repentance  which1 through the mercy of 
,god1 is possible for all4    ,i have no
 disposition to stand between these men 

and justice4  ,if  arrested1 they can   
have no claim to exemption from the     
liabilities of  criminals4  ,but it is  
not simply a question of deserts that is
 to be  considered2 we are to take into 
account our own reputation as a         
,christian  people1 the wishes of our   
best friends abroad1 and the humane     
instincts  of the age1 which forbid all 
unnecessary severity4  ,happily we are  
not  called upon to take counsel of our 
fears4  ,rabbinical writers tell us     
that evil spirits who are once baffled  
in a contest with human beings  lose    
from thenceforth all power of further   
mischief4  ,the defeated rebels  are in 
the precise condition of these ,jewish  
demons4  ,deprived of  slavery1 they are
 like wasps that have lost their stings4
    ,as respects the misguided masses of
 the ,south1 the shattered and crippled 
remnants of the armies of treason1 the  
desolate wives1 mothers1 and  children  
mourning for dear ones who have fallen  
in a vain and hopeless  struggle1 it    

seems to me our duty is very plain4  ,we
 must forgive their  past treason1 and  
welcome and encourage their returning   
loyalty4  ,none  but cowards will insult
 and taunt the defeated and defenceless4
  ,we must  feed and clothe the         
destitute1 instruct the ignorant1 and1  
bearing  patiently with the bitterness  
and prejudice which will doubtless for a
  time thwart our efforts and           
misinterpret our motives1 aid them in   
rebuilding their states on the          
foundation of freedom4  ,our sole enemy 
was  slavery1 and slavery is dead4  ,we 
have now no quarrel with the people of  
the ,south1 who have really more reason 
than we have to rejoice over the        
downfall of a system which impeded their
 material progress1 perverted  their    
religion1 shut them out from the        
sympathies of the world1 and  ridged    
their land with the graves of its       
victims4    ,we are victors1 the cause  
of all this evil and suffering is       
removed  forever1 and we can well afford

 to be magnanimous4  ,how better can we 
evince our gratitude to ,god for ,his   
great mercy than in doing good to  those
 who hated us1 and in having compassion 
on those who have  despitefully used us8
  ,the hour is hastening for us all when
 our sole  ground of dependence will be 
the mercy and forgiveness of ,god4  ,let
 us  endeavor so to feel and act in our 
relations to the people of the ,south   
that we can repeat in sincerity the     
prayer of our ,lord3 ,forgive us our    
trespasses as we forgive those who      
trespass against us1 reverently         
acknowledging that ,he has indeed led   
captivity captive and received  gifts   
for men2 yea1 for the rebellious also1  
that the ,lord ,god might  dwell among  
them4                                   
,,charles ,,sumner ,,and ,,the          
,,state-,,department4                   
#ahfh4        ,,the wise reticence of   
the ,president elect in the matter of   
his cabinet  has left free course to    
speculation and conjecture as to its    

composition4  ,that he fully comprehends
 the importance of the subject1 and that
 he will  carefully weigh the claims of 
the possible candidates on the score of 
patriotic services1 ability1 and fitness
 for specific duties1 no one who  has   
studied his character1 and witnessed his
 discretion1 clear insight1  and wise   
adaptation of means to ends1 under the  
mighty responsibilities  of his past    
career1 can reasonably doubt4    ,it is 
not probable that the distinguished     
statesman now at the head of  the ,state
 ,department will1 under the            
circumstances1 look for a  continuance  
in office4  ,history will do justice to 
his eminent services  in the ,senate and
 in the cabinet during the first years  
of the rebellion1  but the fact that he 
has to some extent shared the           
unpopularity of the  present chief      
magistrate seems to preclude the idea of
 his retention in  the new cabinet4  ,in
 looking over the list of our public men
 in search of  a successor1 ,general    

,grant is not likely to be embarrassed  
by the number  of individuals fitted by 
nature1 culture1 and experience for such
 an  important post4  ,the newspaper    
press1 in its wide license of conjecture
  and suggestion1 has1 as far as ,i have
 seen1 mentioned but three or four      
names in this connection4  ,allusions   
have been made to ,senator ,fessenden   
of ,maine1 ex-,minister ,motley1        
,general ,dix1 ex-,secretary ,stanton1  
and  ,charles ,sumner of ,massachusetts4
    ,without disparaging in any degree  
his assumed competitors1 the last-named 
gentleman is unquestionably preeminently
 fitted for the place4  ,he has  had a  
lifelong education for it4  ,the entire 
cast of his mind1 the bent  of his      
studies1 the habit and experience of his
 public life1 his profound  knowledge of
 international law and the diplomatic   
history of his own and  other countries1
 his well-earned reputation as a        
statesman and  constitutional lawyer1   
not only at home1 but wherever our      

country has  relations of amity and     
commerce1 the honorable distinction     
which he  enjoys of having held a       
foremost place in the great conflict    
between  freedom and slavery1 union and 
rebellion1 all mark him as the man for  
the  occasion4  ,there seems1 indeed1 a 
certain propriety in assigning to the   
man who struck the heaviest blows at    
secession and slavery in the  national  
,senate the first place under him who1  
in the field1 made them  henceforth     
impossible4  ,the great captain and the 
great senator united in  war should not 
be dissevered in peace4    ,i am not    
unaware that there are some1 even in the
 ,republican party1 who  have failed to 
recognize in ,senator ,sumner the really
 wise and practical  statesmanship which
 a careful review of his public labors  
cannot but make  manifest4  ,it is only 
necessary to point such to the open     
record of his  senatorial career4  ,few 
men have had the honor of introducing   
and  defending with exhaustive ability  

and thoroughness so many measures of    
acknowledged practical importance to his
 imrnedicte constituents1 the  country  
at large1 and the wider interests of    
humanity and civilization4  ,in what    
exigency has he been found wanting8     
,what legislative act of  public utility
 for the last eighteen years has lacked 
his encouragement8  ,at the head of the 
,committee on ,foreign ,affairs1 his    
clearness of vision1  firmness1         
moderation1 and ready comprehension of  
the duties of his time  and place must  
be admitted by all parties4  ,it was    
shrewdly said by ,burke  that men are   
wise with little reflection and good    
with little self-  denial1 in business  
of all times except their own4  ,but    
,charles ,sumner1  the scholar1 loving  
the still air of delightful studies1 has
 shown  himself as capable of thoroughly
 comprehending and digesting the events 
transpiring before his eyes as of       
pronouncing judgment upon those         
recorded in history4  ,far in advance of

 most of his contemporaries1 he  saw and
 enunciated the true doctrine of        
reconstruction1 the early  adoption of  
which would have been of incalculable   
service to the country4  ,one of the    
ablest statesmen and jurists of the     
,democratic party has had  the rare     
magnanimity to acknowledge that in this 
matter the ,republican  senator was     
right1 and himself and his party wrong4 
,the ,republicans of ,massachusetts will
 make no fractious or importunate       
demand upon the new ,president4  ,they  
are content to leave to his unbiased    
and impartial judgment the selection of 
his cabinet4  ,but if1 looking to  the  
best interests of the country1 he shall 
see fit to give their  distinguished    
fellow-citizen the first place in it1   
they will feel no  solicitude as to the 
manner in which the duties of the office
 will be  discharged4  ,they will feel  
that the tools are with him who can use 
them4  ,nothing more directly affects   
the reputation of a country than  the   

character of its diplomatic             
correspondence and its foreign          
representatives4  ,we have suffered in  
times past from sad mismanagement       
abroad1 and intelligent ,americans have 
too often been compelled to hang  their 
heads with shame to see the flag of     
their country floating over the         
consular offices of worthless1          
incompetent agents4  ,there can be no   
question that so far as they are        
entrusted to ,senator ,sumner's hands1  
the  interest1 honor1 and dignity of the
 nation will be safe4    ,in a few weeks
 ,charles ,summer will be returned for  
his fourth term in the  ,united ,states 
,senate by the well-nigh unanimous vote 
of both branches of  the legislature of 
,massachusetts4  ,not a syllable of     
opposition to his  reelection is heard  
from any quarter4  ,there is not a      
,republican in the  legislature who     
could have been elected unless he had   
been virtually  pledged to his support4 
,no stronger evidence of the popular    

estimate of  his ability and integrity  
than this could be offered4  ,as a      
matter of  course1 the marked           
individuality of his intense            
convictions1 earnestness1  persistence1 
and confident reliance upon the justice 
of his conclusions1  naturally growing  
out of the consciousness of having      
brought to his  honest search after     
truth all the lights of his learning and
 experience1  may1 at times1 have       
brought him into unpleasant relations   
with some of  his colleagues2 but no    
one1 friend or foe1 has questioned his  
ability and  patriotism1 or doubted his 
fidelity to principle4  ,he has lent    
himself to  no schemes of greed4  ,while
 so many others have taken advantage of 
the  facilities of their official       
stations to fill1 directly or           
indirectly1  their own pockets or those 
of their relatives and retainers1 it is 
to the  honor of ,massachusetts that her
 representatives in the ,senate have not
  only shaken their hands from the      

holding of bribes1 but have so borne    
themselves that no shadow of suspicion  
has ever rested on them4    ,in this    
connection it may be proper to state    
that1 in the event of a  change in the  
,war ,department1 the claims of ,general
 ,wilson1 to whose  services in the     
committee on military affairs the       
country is deeply  indebted1 may be     
brought under consideration4  ,in that  
case ,massachusetts  would not1 if it   
were in her power1 discriminate between 
her senators4  ,both have deserved well 
of her and of the country4  ,in         
expressing thus  briefly my opinion1 ,i 
do not forget that after all the choice 
and  responsibility rest with ,general  
,grant alone4  ,there ,i am content to  
leave them4  ,i am very far from urging 
any sectional claim4  ,let the  country 
but have peace after its long discord1  
let its good faith and  financial credit
 be sustained1 and all classes of its   
citizens everywhere  protected in person
 and estate1 and it matters very little 

to me whether  ,massachusetts is        
represented at the ,executive ,council  
board1 or not4  ,personally1 ,charles   
,sumner would gain nothing by a transfer
 from the  ,senate ,chamber to the      
,state ,department4  ,he does not need a
 place in the  ,american cabinet any    
more than ,john ,bright does in the     
,british4  ,the  highest ambition might 
well be satisfied with his present      
position1 from  which1 looking back upon
 an honorable record1 he might be       
justified in  using ,milton's language  
of lofty confidence in the reply to     
,salmasius3 ,i  am not one who has      
disgraced beauty of sentiment by        
deformity of conduct1  or the maxims of 
a freeman by the actions of a slave1    
but1 by the grace  of ,god1 ,i have kept
 my life unsullied4                     
,,the ,,presidential ,,election ,,of    
#ahgb4         ,the following letter was
 written on receiving a request from a  
committee of colored voters for advice  
as to their action at the               

presidential election of #ahgb4         
,,amesbury1 #ith mo4 #c;d1 #ahgb4       
,,dear ,,friends1--,i have just received
 your letter of the #bith ult4 asking   
my opinion of your present duty as      
colored voters in the choice between    
,general ,grant and ,horace ,greeley for
 the presidency4  ,you state that you   
have been confused by the contradictory 
advice given you by such friends  of    
your people as ,charles ,sumner on one  
hand1 and ,william ,l4 ,garrison and    
,wendell ,phillips on the other2 and you
 ask me1 as one whom you are  pleased to
 think free from all bias1 to add my    
counsel to theirs4    ,i thank you for  
the very kind expression of your        
confidence and your  generous reference 
to my endeavors to serve the cause of   
freedom2 but ,i  must own that ,i would 
fain have been spared the necessity of  
adding to  the already too long list of 
political epistles4  ,i have felt it my 
duty  in times past to take an active   
part--often very distasteful to me--in  

political matters1 having for my first  
object the deliverance of my  country   
from the crime and curse of slavery4    
,that great question being  now settled 
forever1 ,i have been more than willing 
to leave to younger  and stronger hands 
the toils and the honors of partisan    
service4  ,pained  and saddened by the  
bitter and unchristian personalities of 
the canvass  now in progress1 ,i have   
hitherto held myself aloof from it as   
far as  possible1 unwilling to sanction 
in the slightest degree the criminations
  and recriminations of personal friends
 whom ,i have every reason to love  and 
respect1 and in whose integrity ,i have 
unshaken confidence4  ,in the  present  
condition of affairs ,i have not been   
able to see that any special  action as 
an abolitionist was required at my      
hands4  ,both of the great  parties1    
heretofore widely separated1 have put   
themselves on  substantially the same   
platform4  ,the ,republican party1      
originally  pledged only to the         

non-extension of slavery1 and whose most
 illustrious  representative1 ,president
 ,lincoln1 avowed his willingness to    
save the  ,union without abolishing     
slavery1 has been1 under ,providence1   
mainly  instrumental in the total       
overthrow of the detestable system2     
while the  ,democratic party1 composed  
largely of slave-holders1 and1 even at  
the  ,north1 scarcely willing to save   
the ,union at the expense of the slave  
interest upon which its success         
depended1 shattered and crippled by the 
civil war and its results1 has at last  
yielded to the inexorable logic of      
events1 abandoned a position no longer  
tenable1 and taken its new  departure   
with an abolitionist as its candidate4  
,as a friend of the  long-oppressed     
colored man1 and for the sake of the    
peace and prosperity  of the country1 ,i
 rejoice at this action of the          
,democratic party4  ,the  underlying    
motives of this radical change are      
doubtless somewhat mixed  and           

contradictory1 honest conviction on the 
part of some1 and party  expediency and 
desire of office on the part of others2 
but the change  itself is real and      
irrevocable2 the penalty of receding    
would be swift  and irretrievable ruin4 
,in any point of view the new order of  
things is  desirable2 and nothing more  
fully illustrates the ways that are dark
 and  the tricks that are vain of party 
politics than the attempt of professed  
friends of the ,union and equal rights  
for all to counteract it by giving  aid 
and comfort to a revival of the worst   
characteristics of the old  party in the
 shape of a straight-out ,democratic    
convention4    ,as respects the         
candidates now before us1 ,i can see no 
good reason why  colored voters as such 
should oppose ,general ,grant1 who1     
though not an  abolitionist and not even
 a member of the ,republican party      
previous to  his nomination1 has        
faithfully carried out the laws of      
,congress in their  behalf4  ,nor1 on   

the other hand1 can ,i see any just     
grounds for distrust  of such a man as  
,horace ,greeley1 who has so nobly      
distinguished himself  as the advocate  
of human rights irrespective of race or 
color1 and who by  the instrumentality  
of his press has been for thirty years  
the educator  of the people in the      
principles of justice1 temperance1 and  
freedom4  ,both of these men have1 in   
different ways1 deserved too well of the
  country to be unnecessarily subjected 
to the brutalities of a  presidential   
canvass2 and1 so far as they are        
personally concerned1 it  would         
doubtless have been better if the one   
had declined a second term of           
uncongenial duties1 and the other       
continued to indite words of wisdom in  
the shades of ,chappaqua4  ,but they    
have chosen otherwise2 and ,i am        
willing1 for one1 to leave my colored   
fellow-citizens to the unbiased         
exercise of their own judgment and      
instincts in deciding between them4     

,the ,democratic party labors under the 
disadvantage of antecedents not         
calculated to promote a rapid growth of 
confidence2 and it is no matter  of     
surprise that the vote of the           
emancipated class is likely to be       
largely against it4  ,but if1 as will   
doubtless be the case1 that vote  shall 
be to some extent divided between the   
two candidates1 it will have  the effect
 of inducing politicians of the rival   
parties to treat with  respect and      
consideration this new element of       
political power1 from self-  interest if
 from no higher motive4  ,the fact that 
at this time both  parties are welcoming
 colored orators to their platforms1 and
 that1 in  the ,south1 old slave-masters
 and their former slaves fraternize at  
caucus  and barbecue1 and vote for each 
other at the polls1 is full of          
significance4  ,if1 in ,new ,england1   
the very men who thrust ,frederick      
,douglass from car and stage-coach1 and 
mobbed and hunted him like a wild       

beast1 now crowd to shake his hand and  
cheer him1 let us not despair of  seeing
 even the ,ku-,klux tarried into        
decency1 and sitting clothed in  their  
right minds as listeners to their former
 victims4  ,the colored man  is to-day  
the master of his own destiny4  ,no     
power on earth can deprive  him of his  
rights as an ,american citizen4  ,and it
 is in the light of  ,american          
citizenship that ,i choose to regard my 
colored friends1 as men  having a common
 stake in the welfare of the country2   
mingled with1 and  not separate from1   
their white fellow-citizens2 not herded 
together as a  distinct class to be     
wielded by others1 without              
self-dependence and  incapable of       
self-determination4  ,thanks to such men
 as ,sumner and ,wilson  and their      
compeers1 nearly all that legislation   
can do for them has  already been done4 
,we can now only help them to help      
themselves4  ,industry1 economy1        
temperance1 self-culture1 education for 

their  children1--these things1         
indispensable to their elevation and    
progress1  are in a great measure in    
their own hands4    ,you will1          
therefore1 my friends and               
fellow-citizens1 pardon me if ,i        
decline to undertake to decide for you  
the question of your political  duty as 
respects the candidates for the         
presidency1--a question which you  have 
probably already settled in your own    
minds4  ,if it had been apparent  to me 
that your rights and liberties were     
really in danger from the  success of   
either candidate1 your letter would not 
have been needed to  call forth my      
opinion4  ,in the long struggle of      
well-nigh forty years1 ,i  can honestly 
say that no consideration of private    
interest1 nor my  natural love of peace 
and retirement and the good-will of     
others1 have  kept me silent when a word
 could be fitly spoken for human rights4
  ,i  have not so long acted with the   
class to which you belong without       

acquiring respect for your intelligence 
and capacity for judging wisely  for    
yourselves4  ,i shall abide your        
decision with confidence1 and           
cheerfully acquiesce in it4    ,if1 on  
the whole1 you prefer to vote for the   
reelection of ,general ,grant1  let me  
hope you will do so without joining with
 eleventh-hour friends in  denouncing   
and reviling such an old and tried      
friend as ,charles ,sumner1  who has    
done and suffered so much in your       
behalf4  ,if1 on the other hand1  some  
of you decide to vote for ,horace       
,greeley1 you need not in so doing      
forget your great obligations to such   
friends as ,william ,lloyd ,garrison1   
,wendell ,phillips1 and ,lydia ,maria   
,child4  ,agree or disagree with them1  
take their advice or reject it1 but     
stand by them still1 and teach the      
parties with which you are connected to 
respect your feelings towards  your     
benefactors4                            
,,the ,,censure ,,of ,,sumner4          

,a letter to the ,boston ,daily         
,advertiser in reference to the petition
       for the rescinding of the        
resolutions censuring ,senator ,sumner  
for       his motion to erase from the  
,united ,states flags the record of the 
battles of the civil war4      ,i ,,beg 
leave to occupy a small space in the    
columns of the ,advertiser for  the     
purpose of noticing a charge which has  
been brought against the  petitioners   
for rescinding the resolutions of the   
late extra session  virtually censuring 
the ,hon4 ,charles ,sumner4  ,it is     
intimated that the  action of these     
petitioners evinces a lack of           
appreciation of the  services of the    
soldiers of the ,union1 and that not to 
censure ,charles  ,sumner is to censure 
the volunteers of ,massachusetts4    ,as
 a matter of fact1 the petitioners      
express no opinion as to the policy  or 
expediency of the senator's proposition4
  ,some may believe it not only  right  
in itself1 but expedient and well-timed2

 others that it was  inexpedient or     
premature4  ,none doubt that1 sooner or 
later1 the thing  which it contemplates 
must be done1 if we are to continue a   
united  people4  ,what they feel and    
insist upon is that the proposition is  
one  which implies no disparagement of  
the soldiers of ,massachusetts and the  
,union2 that it neither receives nor    
merits the unqualified condemnation  of 
the people of the state2 and that it    
furnishes no ground whatever for        
legislative interference or censure4  ,a
 single glance at the names of the      
petitioners is a sufficient answer to   
the insinuation that they are  unmindful
 of that self-sacrifice and devotion1   
the marble and granite  memorials of    
which1 dotting the state from the       
,merrimac to the  ,connecticut1 testify 
the gratitude of the loyal heart of     
,massachusetts4    ,i have seen no      
soldier yet who considered himself      
wronged or insulted  by the proposition4
  ,in point of fact the soldiers have   

never asked for  such censure of the    
brave and loyal statesman who was the   
bosom friend  and confidant of          
,secretary ,stanton 7the great          
war-minister1 second1 if at  all1 only  
to ,carnot7 and of ,john ,a4  ,andrew1  
dear to the heart of every              
,massachusetts soldier1 and whose tender
 care and sympathy reached them         
wherever they struggled or died for     
country and freedom4  ,the proposal of  
,senator ,sumner1 instead of being an   
insult1 was1 in fact1 the highest       
compliment which could be paid to brave 
men2 for it implied that they  cherished
 no vindictive hatred of fallen foes2   
that they were too proudly  secure of   
the love and gratitude of their         
countrymen to need above their  heads   
the flaunting blazon of their           
achievements2 that they were as         
magnanimous in peace and victory as they
 were heroic and patient through  the   
dark and doubtful arbitrament of war4   
,as such they understand it4  ,i  should

 be sorry to think there existed a      
single son of ,massachusetts weak       
enough to believe that his reputation   
and honor as a soldier needed this      
censure of ,charles ,sumner4  ,i have   
before me letters from men1 ranking     
from orderly sergeant to general1 who   
have looked at death full in the  face  
on every battlefield where the flag of  
,massachusetts floated1 and  they all   
thank me for my efforts to rescind this 
uncalled-for censure1  and pledge me    
their hearty support4  ,they cordially  
indorse the noble  letter of            
,vice-,president ,wilson offering his   
signature to the petition  for          
rescinding the obnoxious resolutions2   
and if these resolutions are  not       
annulled1 it will not be the fault of   
,massachusetts volunteers1 but  rather  
of the mistaken zeal of men more        
familiar with the drill of the  caucus  
than with that of the camp4    ,i am no 
blind partisan of ,charles ,sumner4  ,i 
have often differed from him  in        

opinion4  ,i regretted deeply the       
position which he thought it his duty   
to take during the late presidential    
campaign4  ,he felt the atmosphere      
about him thick and foul with corruption
 and bribery and greed2 he saw  the     
treasury ringed about like ,saturn with 
unscrupulous combinations and           
corporations2 and it is to be regretted 
more than wondered at if he  struck out 
wildly in his indignation1 and that his 
blows fell sometimes  upon the wrong    
object4  ,but ,i did not intend to act  
the part of his  apologist4  ,the twenty
 years of his senatorial life are       
crowded with  memorials of his loyalty  
to truth and free dom and humanity1     
which will  be enduring as our history4 
,he is no party to this movement1 in    
which my  name has been more prominent  
than ,i could have wished1 and no word  
of his  prompted or suggested it4  ,from
 its inception to the present time he   
has  remained silent in his chamber of  
pain1 waiting to bequeath1 like the     

testator of the dramatist1              
,a fame by scandal untouched            
,to ,memory and ,time's old daughter    
,truth4    ,he can well afford to wait1 
and the issue of the present question   
before  our legislature is of far less  
consequence to him than to us4  ,to use 
the  words of one who stood by him in   
the dark days of the ,fugitive ,slave   
,law1  the ,chief ,justice of the       
,united ,states1--,time and the wiser   
thought will  vindicate the illustrious 
statesman to whom ,massachusetts1 the   
country1  and humanity owe so much1 but 
the state can ill afford the damage to  
its  own reputation which such a censure
 of such a man will inflict4            
,,amesbury1 #c;d month1 #h1 #ahgc4      
,,the ,,anti-,,slavery ,,convention ,,of
 #ahcc4                                 
#ahgd4    ,in the gray twilight of a    
chill day of late ,november1 forty years
 ago1 a  dear friend of mine1 residing  
in ,boston1 made his appearance at the  
old  farm-house in ,east ,haverhill4    

,he had been deputed by the             
abolitionists  of the city1 ,william ,l4
 ,garrison1 ,samuel ,e4  ,sewall1 and   
others1 to  inform me of my appointment 
as a delegate to the ,convention about  
to be  held in ,philadelphia for the    
formation of an ,american ,anti-,slavery
  ,society1 and to urge upon me the     
necessity of my attendance4    ,few     
words of persuasion1 however1 were      
needed4  ,i was unused to  travelling2  
my life had been spent on a secluded    
farm2 and the journey1  mostly by       
stage-coach1 at that time was really a  
formidable one4  ,moreover1 the few     
abolitionists were everywhere spoken    
against1 their  persons threatened1 and 
in some instances a price set on their  
heads by  ,southern legislators4        
,pennsylvania was on the borders of     
slavery1 and it  needed small effort of 
imagination to picture to one's self the
 breaking  up of the ,convention and    
maltreatment of its members4  ,this     
latter  consideration ,i do not think   

weighed much with me1 although ,i was   
better  prepared for serious danger than
 for anything like personal indignity4  
,i  had read ,governor ,trumbull's      
description of the tarring and          
feathering of  his hero ,mac,fingal1    
when1 after the application of the      
melted tar1 the  feather-bed was ripped 
open and shaken over him1 until         
,not ,maia's son1 with wings for ears1  
,such plumes about his visage wears1    
,nor ,milton's six-winged angel gathers 
,such superfluity of feathers1    and ,i
 confess ,i was quite unwilling to      
undergo a martyrdom which my best       
friends could scarcely refrain from     
laughing at4  ,but a summons like that  
of ,garrison's bugle-blast could        
scarcely be unheeded by one who1 from   
birth and education1 held fast the      
traditions of that earlier  abolitionism
 which1 under the lead of ,benezet and  
,woolman1 had effaced  from the ,society
 of ,friends every vestige of           
slave-holding4  ,i had thrown  myself1  

with a young man's fervid enthusiasm1   
into a movement which  commended itself 
to my reason and conscience1 to my love 
of country1 and  my sense of duty to    
,god and my fellow-men4  ,my first      
venture in  authorship was the          
publication1 at my own expense1 in the  
spring of #ahcc1  of a pamphlet entitled
 ,justice and ,expediency1 on the moral 
and political  evils of slavery1 and the
 duty of emancipation4  ,under such     
circumstances  ,i could not hesitate1   
but prepared at once for my journey4    
,it was  necessary that ,i should start 
on the morrow1 and the intervening time1
  with a small allowance for sleep1 was 
spent in providing for the care of  the 
farm and homestead during my absence4   
,so the next morning ,i took the stage  
for ,boston1 stopping at the ancient    
hostelry known as the ,eastern ,stage   
,tavern2 and on the day following1 in   
company with ,william ,lloyd ,garrison1 
,i left for ,new ,york4  ,at that city  
we were joined by other delegates1 among

 them ,david ,thurston1 a               
,congregational minister from ,maine4   
,on our way to ,philadelphia1 we took1  
as a matter of necessary economy1 a     
second-class conveyance1 and found      
ourselves1 in consequence1 among rough  
and hilarious companions1 whose         
language was more noteworthy for        
strength than refinement4  ,our worthy  
friend the clergyman bore it awhile in  
painful silence1 but at last felt  it   
his duty to utter words of remonstrance 
and admonition4  ,the leader of  the    
young roisterers listened with a        
ludicrous mock gravity1 thanked him  for
 his exhortation1 and1 expressing fears 
that the extraordinary effort  had      
exhausted his strength1 invited him to  
take a drink with him4  ,father         
,thurston buried his grieved face in his
 cloak-collar1 and wisely left the      
young reprobates to their own devices4  
,on reaching ,philadelphia1 we at once  
betook1 ourselves to the humble         
dwelling on ,fifth ,street occupied by  

,evan ,lewis1 a plain1 earnest man and  
lifelong abolitionist1 who had been     
largely interested in preparing the  way
 for the ,convention4  ,in one respect  
the time of our assembling seemed       
unfavorable4  ,the ,society of ,friends1
 upon whose cooperation we had  counted1
 had but recently been rent asunder by  
one of those unhappy  controversies     
which so often mark the decline of      
practical righteousness4  ,the          
martyr-age of the society had passed1   
wealth and luxury had taken the  place  
of the old simplicity1 there was a      
growing conformity to the maxims  of the
 world in trade and fashion1 and with it
 a corresponding  unwillingness to      
hazard respectability by the advocacy of
 unpopular  reforms4  ,unprofitable     
speculation and disputation on one hand1
 and a  vain attempt on the other to    
enforce uniformity of opinion1 had      
measurably lost sight of the fact that  
the end of the gospel is love1 and  that
 charity is its crowning virtue4  ,after

 a long and painful struggle  the       
disruption had taken place2 the         
shattered fragments1 under the name  of 
,orthodox and ,hicksite1 so like and yet
 so separate in feeling1  confronted    
each other as hostile sects1 and        
,never either found another             
,to free the hollow heart from paining2 
,they stood aloof1 the scars remaining1 
,like cliffs that have been torn asunder
            ,a dreary sea now flows     
between2            ,but neither rain1  
nor frost1 nor thunder1            ,can 
wholly do away1 ,i ween1            ,the
 marks of that which once has been4     
,we found about forty members assembled 
in the parlors of our friend  ,lewis1   
and1 after some general conversation1   
,lewis ,tappan was asked to  preside    
over an informal meeting1 preparatory to
 the opening of the  ,convention4  ,a   
handsome1 intellectual-looking man1 in  
the prime of life1  responded to the    
invitation1 and in a clear1             
well-modulated voice1 the  firm tones of

 which inspired hope and confidence1    
stated the objects of  our preliminary  
council1 and the purpose which had      
called us together1 in  earnest and     
well-chosen words4  ,in making          
arrangements for the  ,convention1 it   
was thought expedient to secure1 if     
possible1 the services  of some citizen 
of ,philadelphia1 of distinction and    
high social standing1  to preside over  
its deliberations4  ,looking round among
 ourselves in vain  for some titled     
civilian or doctor of divinity1 we were 
fain to confess  that to outward seeming
 we were but a feeble folk1 sorely      
needing the  shield of a popular name4  
,a committee1 of which ,i was a member1 
was  appointed to go in search of a     
president of this description4  ,we     
visited  two prominent gentlemen1 known 
as friendly to emancipation and of high 
social standing4  ,they received us with
 the dignified courtesy of the old      
school1 declined our proposition in     
civil terms1 and bowed us out with a    

cool politeness equalled only by that of
 the senior ,winkle towards the  unlucky
 deputation of ,pickwick and his        
unprepossessing companions4  ,as we     
left their doors we could not refrain   
from smiling in each other's faces  at  
the thought of the small inducement our 
proffer of the presidency held  out to  
men of their class4  ,evidently our     
company was not one for  respectability 
to march through ,coventry with4    ,on 
the following morning we repaired to the
 ,adelphi ,building1 on ,fifth  ,street1
 below ,walnut1 which had been secured  
for our use4  ,sixty-two  delegates were
 found to be in attendance4  ,beriah    
,green1 of the ,oneida  7,new ,york7    
,institute1 was chosen president1 a     
fresh-faced1 sandy-haired1  rather      
common-looking man1 but who had the     
reputation of an able and  eloquent     
speaker4  ,he had already made himself  
known to us as a resolute  and          
self-sacrificing abolitionist4  ,lewis  
,tappan and myself took our  places at  

his side as secretaries1 on the         
elevation at the west end of  the hall4 
,looking over the assembly1 ,i noticed  
that it was mainly composed of          
comparatively young men1 some in middle 
age1 and a few beyond that  period4     
,they were nearly all plainly dressed1  
with a view to comfort  rather than     
elegance4  ,many of the faces turned    
towards me wore a look of  expectancy   
and suppressed enthusiasm2 all had the  
earnestness which might  be expected of 
men engaged in an enterprise beset with 
difficulty and  perhaps with peril4     
,the fine1 intellectual head of         
,garrison1 prematurely  bald1 was       
conspicuous2 the sunny-faced young man  
at his side1 in whom all  the beatitudes
 seemed to find expression1 was ,samuel 
,j4 ,may1 mingling in  his veins the    
best blood of the ,sewalls and          
,quincys1--a man so  exceptionally pure 
and large-hearted1 so genial1 tender1   
and loving1 that  he could be faithful  
to truth and duty without making an     

enemy4                  ,the de'il wad  
look into his face1                 ,and
 swear he couldna wrang him4    ,that   
tall1 gaunt1 swarthy man1 erect1        
eagle-faced1 upon whose somewhat        
martial figure the ,quaker coat seemed a
 little out of place1 was ,lindley      
,coates1 known in all eastern           
,pennsylvania as a stern enemy of       
slavery2  that slight1 eager man1       
intensely alive in every feature and    
gesture1 was  ,thomas ,shipley1 who for 
thirty years had been the protector of  
the free  colored people of             
,philadelphia1 and whose name was       
whispered reverently  in the slave      
cabins of ,maryland as the friend of the
 black man1 one of a  class peculiar to 
old ,quakerism1 who in doing what they  
felt to be duty1  and walking as the    
,light within guided them1 knew no fear 
and shrank from  no sacrifice4  ,braver 
men the world has not known4  ,beside   
him1 differing  in creed1 but united    
with him in works of love and charity1  

sat ,thomas  ,whitson1 of the ,hicksite 
school of ,friends1 fresh from his farm 
in  ,lancaster ,county1 dressed in      
plainest homespun1 his tall form        
surmounted  by a shock of unkempt hair1 
the odd obliquity of his vision         
contrasting  strongly with he clearness 
and directness of his spiritual insight4
  ,elizur ,wright1 the young professor  
of a ,western college1 who had lost his 
place by his bold advocacy of freedom1  
with a look of sharp concentration  in  
keeping with an intellect keen as a     
,damascus blade1 closely watched  the   
proceedings through his spectacles1     
opening his mouth only to speak         
directly to the purpose4  ,the portly   
form of ,dr4 ,bartholomew ,fussell1 the 
beloved physician1 from that beautiful  
land of plenty and peace which  ,bayard 
,taylor has described in his ,story of  
,kennett1 was not to be  overlooked4    
,abolitionist in heart and soul1 his    
house was known as the  shelter of      
runaway slaves1 and no sportsman ever   

entered into the chase  with such zest  
as he did into the arduous and sometimes
 dangerous work of  aiding their escape 
and baffling their pursuers4  ,the      
youngest man  present was1 ,i believe1  
,james ,miller ,mc,kim1 a ,presbyterian 
minister from  ,columbia1 afterwards one
 of our most efficient workers4  ,james 
,mott1 ,e4  ,l4 ,capron1 ,arnold        
,buffum1 and ,nathan ,winslow1 men well 
known in the anti-  slavery agitation1  
were conspicuous members4  ,vermont sent
 down from her  mountains ,orson ,s4    
,murray1 a man terribly in earnest1 with
 a zeal that  bordered on fanaticism1   
and who was none the more genial for the
 mob-  violence to which he had been    
subjected4  ,in front of me1 awakening  
pleasant associations of the old        
homestead in ,merrimac valley1 sat my   
first school-teacher1 ,joshua ,coffin1  
the learned and worthy antiquarian  and 
historian of ,newbury4  ,a few          
spectators1 mostly of the ,hicksite     
division of ,friends1 were present1 in  

broad brims and plain bonnets1  among   
them ,esther ,moore and ,lucretia ,mott4
    ,committees were chosen to draft a  
constitution for a national ,anti-      
,slavery ,society1 nominate a list of   
officers1 and prepare a declaration  of 
principles to be signed by the members4 
,dr4 ,a4 ,l4 ,cox of ,new ,york1  while 
these committees were absent1 read      
something from my pen eulogistic  of    
,william ,lloyd ,garrison2 and ,lewis   
,tappan and ,amos ,a4  ,phelps1 a       
,congregational clergyman of ,boston1   
afterwards one of the most devoted      
laborers in the cause1 followed in      
generous commendation of the zeal1      
courage1 and devotion of the young      
pioneer4  ,the president1 after calling 
,james ,mc,crummell1 one of the two or  
three colored members of the            
,convention1 to the chair1 made some    
eloquent remarks upon those editors  who
 had ventured to advocate emancipation4 
,at the close of his speech a  young man
 rose to speak1 whose appearance at once

 arrested my attention4  ,i think ,i    
have never seen a finer face and figure1
 and his manner1 words1  and bearing    
were in keeping4  ,who is he8  ,i asked 
of one of the  ,pennsylvania delegates4 
,robert ,purvis1 of this city1 a colored
 man1  was the answer4  ,he began by    
uttering his heart-felt thanks to the   
delegates who had convened for the      
deliverance of his people4  ,he spoke   
of ,garrison in terms of warmest eulogy1
 as one who had stirred the heart  of   
the nation1 broken the tomblike slumber 
of the church1 and compelled  it to     
listen to the story of the slave's      
wrongs4  ,he closed by declaring  that  
the friends of colored ,americans would 
not be forgotten4  ,their  memories1 he 
said1 will be cherished when pyramids   
and monuments shall  have crumbled in   
dust4  ,the flood of time which is      
sweeping away the  refuge of lies is    
bearing on the advocates of our cause to
 a glorious  immortality4    ,the       
committee on the constitution made their

 report1 which after  discussion was    
adopted4  ,it disclaimed any right or   
intention of  interfering1 otherwise    
than by persuasion and ,christian       
expostulation1  with slavery as it      
existed in the states1 but affirming the
 duty of  ,congress to abolish it in the
 ,district of ,columbia and territories1
 and  to put an end to the domestic     
slave-trade4  ,a list of officers of the
 new  society was then chosen3 ,arthur  
,tappan of ,new ,york1 president1 and   
,elizur  ,wright1 ,jr41 ,william ,lloyd 
,garrison1 and ,a4 ,l4 ,cox1            
secretaries4  ,among  the               
vice-presidents was ,dr4 ,lord of       
,dartmouth ,college1 then professedly   
in favor of emancipation1 but who       
afterwards turned a moral somersault1 a 
self-inversion which left him ever after
 on his head instead of his feet4    ,he
 became a querulous advocate of slavery 
as a divine institution1 and  denounced 
woe upon the abolitionists for          
interfering with the will and  purpose  

of the ,creator4  ,as the cause of      
freedom gained ground1 the poor  man's  
heart failed him1 and his hope for      
church and state grew fainter  and      
fainter4  ,a sad prophet of the evangel 
of slavery1 he testified in  the        
unwilling ears of an unbelieving        
generation1 and died at last  despairing
 of a world which seemed determined that
 ,canaan should no  longer be cursed1   
nor ,onesimus sent back to ,philemon4   
,the committee on the declaration of    
principles1 of which ,i was a member1   
held a long session1 discussing the     
proper scope and tenor of the  document4
  ,but little progress being made1 it   
was finally decided to  entrust the     
matter to a sub-committee1 consisting of
 ,william ,l4  ,garrison1 ,s4 ,j4 ,may1 
and myself2 and after a brief           
consultation and  comparison of each    
other's views1 the drafting of the      
important paper was  assigned to the    
former gentleman4  ,we agreed to meet   
him at his lodgings  in the house of a  

colored friend early the next morning4  
,it was still  dark when we climbed up  
to his room1 and the lamp was still     
burning by  the light of which he was   
writing the last sentence of the        
declaration4  ,we read it carefully1    
made a few verbal changes1 and submitted
 it to the  large committee1 who        
unanimously agreed to report it to the  
,convention4    ,the paper was read to  
the ,convention by ,dr4 ,atlee1 chairman
 of the  committee1 and listened to with
 the profoundest interest4              
,commencing with a reference to the     
time1 fifty-seven years before1 when1   
in the same city of ,philadelphia1 our  
fathers announced to the world  their   
,declaration of ,independence1--based on
 the self-evident truths of  human      
equality and rights1--and appealed to   
arms for its defence1 it  spoke of the  
new enterprise as one without which that
 of our fathers is  incomplete1 and as  
transcending theirs in magnitude1       
solemnity1 and  probable results as much

 as moral truth does physical force4    
,it spoke  of the difference of the two 
in the means and ends proposed1 and of  
the  trifling grievances of our fathers 
compared with the wrongs and  sufferings
 of the slaves1 which it forcibly       
characterized as unequalled  by any     
others on the face of the earth4  ,it   
claimed that the nation was  bound to   
repent at once1 to let the oppressed go 
free1 and to admit them  to all the     
rights and privileges of others2        
because1 it asserted1 no man  has a     
right to enslave or imbrute his brother2
 because liberty is  inalienable2       
because there is no difference1 in      
principle1 between slave-  holding and  
man-stealing1 which the law brands as   
piracy2 and because no  length of       
bondage can invalidate man's claim to   
himself1 or render slave  laws anything 
but an audacious usurpation4    ,it     
maintained that no compensation should  
be given to planters  emancipating      
slaves1 because that would be a         

surrender of fundamental  principles2   
slavery is a crime1 and is1 therefore1  
not an article to be  sold2 because     
slave-holders are not just proprietors  
of what they claim2  because            
emancipation would destroy only nominal1
 not real property2 and  because        
compensation1 if given at all1 should be
 given to the slaves4    ,it declared   
any scheme of expatriation to be        
delusive1 cruel1 and  dangerous4  ,it   
fully recognized the right of each state
 to legislate  exclusively on the       
subject of slavery within its limits1   
and conceded  that ,congress1 under the 
present national compact1 had no right  
to  interfere2 though still contending  
that it had the power1 and should       
exercise it1 to suppress the domestic   
slave-trade between the several  states1
 and to abolish slavery in the ,district
 of ,columbia1 and in  those portions of
 our territory which the ,constitution  
has placed under  its exclusive         
jurisdiction4    ,after clearly and     

emphatically avowing the principles     
underlying the  enterprise1 and guarding
 with scrupulous care the rights of     
persons and  states under the           
,constitution1 in prosecuting it1 the   
declaration closed  with these eloquent 
words3--    ,we also maintain that there
 are1 at the present time1 the highest  
obligations resting upon the people of  
the free states to remove slavery  by   
moral and political action1 as          
prescribed in the ,constitution of the  
,united ,states4  ,they are now living  
under a pledge of their tremendous      
physical force to fasten the galling    
fetters of tyranny upon the limbs of    
millions in the ,southern states2 they  
are liable to be called at any  moment  
to suppress a general insurrection of   
the slaves2 they authorize  the         
slave-owner to vote on three fifths of  
his slaves as property1 and  thus enable
 him to perpetuate his oppression2 they 
support a standing  army at the ,south  
for its protection2 and they seize the  

slave who has  escaped into their       
territories1 and send him back to be    
tortured by an  enraged master or a     
brutal driver4  ,this relation to       
slavery is criminal  and full of danger4
  ,it must be broken up4    ,these are  
our views and principles1--these our    
designs and measures4  ,with entire     
confidence in the overruling justice of 
,god1 we plant  ourselves upon the      
,declaration of ,independence and the   
truths of divine  revelation as upon the
 everlasting rock4    ,we shall organize
 anti-slavery societies1 if possible1 in
 every city1  town1 and village in our  
land4    ,we shall send forth agents to 
lift up the voice of remonstrance1 of   
warning1 of entreaty and rebuke4    ,we 
shall circulate unsparingly and         
extensively anti-slavery tracts and     
periodicals4    ,we shall enlist the    
pulpit and the press in the cause of the
 suffering  and the dumb4    ,we shall  
aim at a purification of the churches   
from all participation in  the guilt of 

slavery4    ,we shall encourage the     
labor of freemen over that of the       
slaves1 by  giving a preference to their
 productions2 and    ,we shall spare no 
exertions nor means to bring the whole  
nation to  speedy repentance4    ,our   
trust for victory is solely in ,god4    
,we may be personally defeated1  but our
 principles never4  ,truth1 justice1    
reason1 humanity1 must and  will        
gloriously triumph4  ,already a host is 
coming up to the help of the  ,lord     
against the mighty1 and the prospect    
before us is full of  encouragement4    
,submitting this declaration to the     
candid examination of the people of     
this country1 and of the friends of     
liberty all over the world1 we hereby   
affix our signatures to it2 pledging    
ourselves that1 under the guidance  and 
by the help of ,almighty ,god1 we will  
do all that in us lies1  consistently   
with this declaration of our principles1
 to overthrow the  most execrable system
 of slavery that has ever been witnessed

 upon earth1  to deliver our land from  
its deadliest curse1 to wipe out the    
foulest  stain which rests upon our     
national escutcheon1 and to secure to   
the  colored population of the ,united  
,states all the rights and privileges   
which belong to them as men and as      
,americans1 come what may to our        
persons1 our interests1 or our          
reputations1 whether we live to witness 
the triumph of justice1 liberty1 and    
humanity1 or perish untimely as  martyrs
 in this great1 benevolent1 and holy    
cause4    ,the reading of the paper was 
followed by a discussion which lasted   
several hours4  ,a member of the        
,society of ,friends moved its immediate
  adoption4  ,we have1 he said1 all     
given it our assent3 every heart here   
responds to it4  ,it is a doctrine of   
,friends that these strong and deep     
impressions should be heeded4  ,the     
,convention1 nevertheless1 deemed it    
important to go over the declaration    
carefully1 paragraph by paragraph4      

,during the discussion1 one of the      
spectators asked leave to say a few     
words4  ,a beautiful and graceful woman1
 in the prime of life1 with a face      
beneath her plain cap as finely         
intellectual as that of ,madame ,roland1
  offered some wise and valuable        
suggestions1 in a clear1 sweet voice1   
the  charm of which ,i have never       
forgotten4  ,it was ,lucretia ,mott of  
,philadelphia4  ,the president          
courteously thanked her1 and encouraged 
her  to take a part in the discussion4  
,on the morning of the last day of our  
session1 the declaration1 with its few  
verbal amendments1 carefully  engrossed 
on parchment1 was brought before the    
,convention4  ,samuel ,j4 ,may  rose to 
read it for the last time4  ,his sweet1 
persuasive voice faltered  with the     
intensity of his emotions as he repeated
 the solemn pledges of  the concluding  
paragraphs4  ,after a season of silence1
 ,david ,thurston of  ,maine rose as his
 name was called by one of the          

secretaries1 and affixed  his name to   
the document4  ,one after another passed
 up to the platform1  signed1 and       
retired in silence4  ,all felt the deep 
responsibility of the  occasion the     
shadow and forecast of a life-long      
struggle rested upon  every countenance4
    ,our work as a ,convention was now  
done4  ,president ,green arose to make  
the  concluding address4  ,the          
circumstances under which it was uttered
 may  have lent it an impressiveness not
 its own2 but as ,i now recall it1 it   
seems to me the most powerful and       
eloquent speech to which ,i have ever   
listened4  ,he passed in review the work
 that had been done1 the  constitution  
of the new society1 the declaration of  
sentiments1 and the  union and          
earnestness which had marked the        
proceedings4  ,his closing  words will  
never be forgotten by those who heard   
them3--    ,brethren1 it has been good  
to be here4  ,in this hallowed          
atmosphere ,i  have been revived and    

refreshed4  ,this brief interview has   
more than  repaid me for all that ,i    
have ever suffered4  ,i have here met   
congenial  minds2 ,i have rejoiced in   
sympathies delightful to the soul4      
,heart has  beat responsive to heart1   
and the holy work of seeking to benefit 
the  outraged and despised has proved   
the most blessed employment4    ,but now
 we must retire from these balmy        
influences and breathe another          
atmosphere4  ,the chill hoar-frost will 
be upon us4  ,the storm and tempest     
will rise1 and the waves of persecution 
will dash against our souls4  ,let  us  
be prepared for the worst4  ,let us     
fasten ourselves to the throne of  ,god 
as with hooks of steel4  ,if we cling   
not to ,him1 our names to that  document
 will be but as dust4    ,let us court  
no applause1 indulge in no spirit of    
vain boasting4  ,let us  be assured that
 our only hope in grappling with the    
bony monster is in an  ,arm that is     
stronger than ours4  ,let us fix our    

gaze on ,god1 and walk in  the light of 
,his countenance4  ,if our cause be     
just--and we know it is--  ,his         
omnipotence is pledged to its triumph4  
,let this cause be entwined  around the 
very fibres of our hearts4  ,let our    
hearts grow to it1 so that  nothing but 
death can sunder the bond4    ,he       
ceased1 and then1 amidst a silence      
broken only by the deep-drawn  breath of
 emotion in the assembly1 lifted up his 
voice in a prayer to  ,almighty ,god1   
full of fervor and feeling1 imploring   
,his blessing and  sanctification upon  
the ,convention and its labors4  ,and   
with the  solemnity of this supplication
 in our hearts we clasped hands in      
farewell1 and went forth each man to his
 place of duty1 not knowing the  things 
that should befall us as individuals1   
but with a confidence1 never  shaken by 
abuse and persecution1 in the certain   
triumph of our cause4                   
,,kansas    ,read at the twenty-fifth   
anniversary of the founding of the state

 of  ,kansas4                           
,,bear ,,camp ,,house1 ,,west ,,ossipee1
 ,n4 ,h41                               
,eighth month1 #bith1 #ahgi4    ,to ,j4 
,s4 ,,emery1  ,r4 ,,morrow1 ,,and ,c4   
,w4 ,,smith1 ,,committee3    ,i ,,have  
received your invitation to the         
twenty-fifth anniversary  celebration of
 the first settlement of ,kansas4  ,it  
would give me great  pleasure to visit  
your state on an occasion of such       
peculiar interest1  and to make the     
acquaintance of its brave and           
self-denying pioneers1 but  ,i have not 
health and strength for the journey4    
,it is very fitting that  this          
anniversary should be duly recognized4  
,no one of your sister states  has such 
a record as yours1--so full of peril and
 adventure1 fortitude1  self-sacrifice1 
and heroic devotion to freedom4  ,its   
baptism of martyr  blood not only saved 
the state to liberty1 but made the      
abolition of  slavery everywhere        
possible4  ,barber and ,stillwell and   

,colpetzer and  their associates did not
 die in vain4  ,all through your long1  
hard  struggle ,i watched the course of 
events in ,kansas with absorbing        
interest4  ,i rejoiced1 while ,i        
marvelled at the steady courage which no
  danger could shake1 at the firm       
endurance which outwearied the          
brutalities of your slaveholding        
invaders1 and at that fidelity to right 
and duty which the seduction of         
immediate self-interest could not       
swerve1  nor the military force of a    
proslavery government overawe4  ,all my 
sympathies were with you in that stern  
trial of your loyalty to ,god and       
humanity4  ,and when1 in the end1 you   
had conquered peace1 and the last of    
the baffled border ruffians had left    
your territory1 ,i felt that the doom   
of the accursed institution was sealed1 
and that its abolition was but a        
question of time4  ,a state with such a 
record will1 ,i am sure1 be true to  its
 noble traditions1 and will do all in   

its power to aid the victims of         
prejudice and oppression who may be     
compelled to seek shelter within its    
borders4  ,i will not for a moment      
distrust the fidelity of ,kansas to her 
foundation principle4  ,god bless and   
prosper her6  ,thanking you for the     
kind terms of your invitation1 ,i am1   
gentlemen1 very truly your friend4      
,,william ,,lloyd ,,garrison4    ,an    
,introduction to ,oliver ,johnson's     
,william ,lloyd ,garrison and his       
,times4                                 
#ahgi4    ,i no not know that any word  
of mine can give additional interest to 
this  memorial of ,william ,lloyd       
,garrison from the pen of one of his    
earliest  and most devoted friends1     
whose privilege it has been to share his
  confidence and his labors for nearly  
half a century2 but ,i cannot well      
forego the opportunity afforded me to   
add briefly my testimony to the  tribute
 to the memory of the great ,reformer1  
whose friendship ,i have  shared1 and   

with whom ,i have been associated in a  
common cause from youth  to age4    ,my 
acquaintance with him commenced in      
boyhood4  ,my father was a  subscriber  
to his first paper1 the ,free ,press1   
and the humanitarian tone  of his       
editorials awakened a deep interest in  
our little household1 which  was        
increased by a visit which he made us4  
,when he afterwards edited the  ,journal
 of the ,times1 at ,bennington1 ,vt41 ,i
 ventured to write him a  letter of     
encouragement and sympathy1 urging him  
to continue his labors  against slavery1
 and assuring him that he could do great
 things1 an  unconscious prophecy which 
has been fulfilled beyond the dream of  
my  boyish enthusiasm4  ,the friendship 
thus commenced has remained unbroken    
through half a century1 confirming my   
early confidence in his zeal and        
devotion1 and in the great intellectual 
and moral strength which he  brought to 
the cause with which his name is        
identified4    ,during the long and hard

 struggle in which the abolitionists    
were  engaged1 and amidst the new and   
difficult questions and side-issues     
which  presented themselves1 it could   
scarcely be otherwise than that         
differences of opinion and action should
 arise among them4  ,the leader  and his
 disciples could not always see alike4  
,my friend1 the author of  this book1 ,i
 think1 generally found himself in full 
accord with him1  while ,i often        
decidedly dissented4  ,i felt it my duty
 to use my right of  citizenship at the 
ballot-box in the cause of liberty1     
while ,garrison1  with equal sincerity1 
judged and counselled otherwise4  ,each 
acted under  a sense of individual duty 
and responsibility1 and our personal    
relations  were undisturbed4  ,if1 at   
times1 the great anti-slavery leader    
failed to  do justice to the motives of 
those who1 while in hearty sympathy with
 his  hatred of slavery1 did not agree  
with some of his opinions and methods1  
it was but the pardonable and not       

unnatural result of his intensity of    
purpose1 and his self-identification    
with the cause he advocated2 and1  while
 compelled to dissent1 in some          
particulars1 from his judgment of men   
and measures1 the great mass of the     
antislavcry people recognized his  moral
 leadership4  ,the controversies of old 
and new organization1  nonresistance and
 political action1 may now be looked    
upon by the parties  to them1 who still 
survive1 with the philosophic calmness  
which follows  the subsidence of        
prejudice and passion4  ,we were but    
fallible men1 and  doubtless often erred
 in feeling1 speech1 and action4  ,ours 
was but the  common experience of       
reformers in all ages4                  
,never in ,custom's oiled grooves       
,the world to a higher level moves1     
,but grates and grinds with friction    
hard            ,on granite bowlder and 
flinty shard4            ,ever the      
,virtues blush to find            ,the  
,vices wearing their badge behind1      

,and ,graces and ,charities feel the    
fire            ,wherein the sins of the
 age expire4    ,it is too late now to  
dwell on these differences4  ,i choose  
rather1 with  a feeling of gratitude to 
,god1 to recall the great happiness of  
laboring  with the noble company of whom
 ,garrison was the central figure4  ,i  
love  to think of him as he seemed to   
me1 when in the fresh dawn of manhood he
  sat with me in the old ,haverhill     
farmhouse1 revolving even then schemes  
of benevolence2 or1 with cheery smile1  
welcoming me to his frugal meal of      
bread and milk in the dingy ,boston     
printing-room2 or1 as ,i found him in   
the gray ,december morning in the small 
attic of a colored man1 in              
,philadelphia1 finishing his night-long 
task of drafting his immortal           
,declaration of ,sentiments of the      
,american ,anti-,slavery ,society2 or1  
as ,i  saw him in the jail of ,leverett 
,street1 after his almost miraculous    
escape from the mob1 playfully inviting 

me to share the safe lodgings  which the
 state had provided for him2 and in all 
the varied scenes and  situations where 
we acted together our parts in the great
 endeavor and  success of ,freedom4     
,the verdict of posterity in his case   
may be safely anticipated4  ,with the   
true reformers and benefactors of his   
race he occupies a place inferior  to   
none other4  ,the private lives of many 
who fought well the battles of  humanity
 have not been without spot or blemish4 
,but his private  character1 like his   
public1 knew no dishonor4  ,no shadow of
 suspicion  rests upon the white statue 
of a life1 the fitting garland of which 
should be the ,alpine flower that       
symbolizes noble purity4                
,,anti-,,slavery ,,anniversary4    ,read
 at the semi-centennial celebration of  
the ,american ,anti-,slavery  ,society  
at ,philadelphia1 on the #c;d ,december1
 #ahhc4                                 
,,oak ,,knoll1 ,,danvers1 ,,mass41      
#aath mo41 #cj1 #ahhc4    ,i ,,need not 

say how gladly ,i would be with you at  
the semi-centennial of  the ,american   
,anti-,slavery ,society4  ,i am1 ,i     
regret to say1 quite unable  to gratify 
this wish1 and can only represent myself
 by a letter4    ,looking back over the 
long years of half a century1 ,i can    
scarcely  realize the conditions under  
which the convention of #ahcc assembled4
  ,slavery was predominant4  ,like      
,apollyon in ,pilgrim's ,progress1 it   
straddled over the whole breadth of the 
way4  ,church and state1 press  and     
pulpit1 business interests1 literature1 
and fashion were prostrate at  its feet4
  ,our convention1 with few exceptions1 
was composed of men  without influence  
or position1 poor and little known1     
strong only in  their convictions and   
faith in the justice of their cause4    
,to onlookers  our endeavor to undo the 
evil work of two centuries and convert a
 nation  to the great renunciation      
involved in emancipation must have      
seemed  absurd in the last degree4  ,our

 voices in such an atmosphere found no  
echo4  ,we could look for no response   
but laughs of derision or the  missiles 
of a mob4    ,but we felt that we had   
the strength of truth on our side2 we   
were right1  and all the world about us 
was wrong4  ,we had faith1 hope1 and    
enthusiasm1 and did our work1 nothing   
doubting1 amidst a generation who  first
 despised and then feared and hated us4 
,for myself ,i have never  ceased to be 
grateful to the ,divine ,providence for 
the privilege of  taking a part in that 
work4    ,and now for more than twenty  
years we have had a free country4  ,no  
slave  treads its soil4  ,the           
anticipated dangerous consequences of   
complete  emancipation have not been    
felt4  ,the emancipated class1 as a     
whole1 have  done wisely1 and well under
 circumstances of peculiar difficulty4  
,the  masters have learned that cotton  
can be raised better by free than by    
slave labor1 and nobody now wishes a    
return to slave-holding4  ,sectional    

prejudices are subsiding1 the bitterness
 of the civil war is slowly  passing    
away4  ,we are beginning to feel that we
 are one people1 with no  really        
clashing interests1 and none more truly 
rejoice in the growing  prosperity of   
the ,south than the old abolitionists1  
who hated slavery as  a curse to the    
master as well as to the slave4    ,in  
view of this commemorative              
semi-centennial occasion1 many thoughts 
crowd upon me2 memory recalls vanished  
faces and voices long hushed4  ,of      
those who acted with me in the          
convention fifty years ago nearly all   
have  passed into another state of      
being4  ,we who remain must soon follow2
 we  have seen the fulfilment of our    
desire2 we have outlived scorn and      
persecution2 the lengthening shadows    
invite us to rest4  ,if1 in looking     
back1 we feel that we sometimes erred   
through impatient zeal in our  contest  
with a great wrong1 we have the         
satisfaction of knowing that we  were   

influenced by no merely selfish         
considerations4  ,the low light of  our 
setting sun shines over a free1 united  
people1 and our last prayer  shall be   
for their peace1 prosperity1 and        
happiness4                              
,,response    ,,to ,,the ,,celebration  
,,of ,,my ,,eightieth ,,birthday ,,by   
,,the ,,colored ,,citizens ,,of         
,,washington ,d4 ,c4    ,to ,r4 ,h4     
,,terrell ,,and ,,george ,w4 ,,williams1
 ,,esquires4    ,,gentlemen1--,among the
 great number of tokens of interest and 
good-will  which reached me on my       
birthday1 none have touched me more     
deeply than  the proceedings of the     
great meeting of the colored citizens of
 the  nation's capital1 of which you are
 the representatives4  ,the resolutions 
of that meeting came to me as the voice 
of millions of my fellow-  countrymen4  
,that voice was dumb in slavery when1   
more than half a  century ago1 ,i put   
forth my plea for the freedom of the    
slave4    ,it could not answer me from  

the rice swamp and cotton field1 but    
now1 ,god  be praised1 it speaks from   
your great meeting in ,washington and   
from all  the colleges and schools where
 the youth of your race are taught4  ,i 
scarcely expected then that the people  
for whom ,i pleaded would ever know  of 
my efforts in their behalf4  ,i cannot  
be too thankful to the ,divine          
,providence that ,i have lived to hear  
their grateful response4    ,i stand    
amazed at the rapid strides which your  
people have made since  emancipation1 at
 your industry1 your acquisition of     
property and land1  your zeal for       
education1 your self-respecting but     
unresentful attitude  toward those who  
formerly claimed to be your masters1    
your pathetic but  manly appeal for just
 treatment and recognition4  ,i see in  
all this the  promise that the time is  
not far distant when1 in common with the
 white  race1 you will have the free1   
undisputed rights of ,american          
citizenship  in all parts of the ,union1

 and your rightful share in the honors  
as well  as the protection of the       
government4    ,your letter would have  
been answered sooner if it had been     
possible4  ,i  have been literally      
overwbelmed with letters and telegrams1 
which1 owing  to illness1 ,i have been  
in a great measure unable to answer or  
even read4    ,i tender to you1         
gentlemen1 and to the people you        
represent my heartfelt  thanks1 and the 
assurance that while life lasts you will
 find me1 as ,i  have been heretofore1  
under more difficult circumstances1 your
 faithful  friend4    ,,oak ,,knoll1    
,,danvers1 ,,mass41  first mo41 #i1     
#ahhh4